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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

THE CITY OF NEW YORK 



SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT 



OF THE 



CITY SUPERINTENDENT OF 
SCHOOLS 

1914-1915 



.PREPARATION FOR TRADES 

MANHATTAN TRADE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS 
VOCATIONAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS 
MURRAY HILL VOCATIONAL SCHOOL 
BROOKLYN VOCATIONAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS 



PRESENTED TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION 
NOVEMBER 24, 1915 



Monograj 



DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 
THE CITY OF NEW YORK (#)> 



yj^^^&^t-^t^S^ 



SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT 



OF THE 



CITY SUPERINTENDENT OF 
SCHOOLS 

1914-1915 



PREPARATION FOR TRADES 

MANHATTAN TRADE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS 
VOCATIONAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS 
MURRAY HILL VOCATIONAL SCHOOL 
BROOKLYN VOCATIONAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS 



PRESENTED TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION 
NOVEMBER 24, 1915 



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PRESS OF 

CLARENCES. NATHAN, INC. 

NEW YORK. 



D. of D? 

'■£ 13 I > 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Letter of Transmittal 4-7 

Manhattan Trade School for Girls 8-55 

The organization of the school 9-14 

Registration and attendance 14-19 

Instruction and courses of study 19-29 

Teachers 29-33 

Placement of students 33-42 

Sale of products 42-47 

Evening sessions 47-49 

New experiments 50-53 

Recommendations 53-55 

Vocational School for Boys 56-63 

Statistics 56-57 

Reasons for withdrawal 57-58 

Follow-up reports 58 

New auto-machine shop 59 

Physical training 59-60 

Evening sessions 60 

Graduates' continuation work 60-61 

School lunch room ' 61 

Cooperative efforts with outside agencies 61-62 

Cooperative efforts with school authorities 62-63 

Recommendations 63 

Murray Hill Vocational School 64-80 

Description of school 64 

Recommendations 64 

Present inadequate accommodations 65-71 

Work accomplished , 72 



4 

Industrial work done 73 

Type of work done 7o 

Danger of exploitation 74 

Departmental cooperation 74 

Education campaign needed 74 

Lectures on industrial subjects 75 

Statistics 75 

Photographs and plates 76-79 

Summary of work done 80 

Brooklyn Vocational School 81-99 

Location of school ' 81 

Equipment of shop 82 

Organization of school 82-83 

Shops and classrooms 83.-92 

Course of study 93-95 

Improvements suggested 95 

Increased facilities 95 

Necessity for a separate building 9(3 

Statistics 96-98 

Educational campaign necessary 99 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 



August 13, 1915. 
To the Board of Education: 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

I have the honor to present the annual reports made by the 
principals of the Manhattan Trade School for Girls, Vocational 
School for Boys, Murray Hill Vocational School, and the Brooklyn 
Vocational School. 

Miss Florence M. Marshall, principal of the Manhattan Trade 
School for Girls presents a very complete report on the organiza- 
tion of the trade school for girls, the attendance, instruction, 
placement of students and sale of products. She gives as the 
aims and purposes of the school: (1) to train young girls who are 
forced to leave school and become wage earners, to enter the 
skilled trades ; (2) to imbue them with a love and respect for work ; 
and (3) to arouse in them a desire to become the best type of 
workers. In the new experiments tried she mentions, (1) the 
opening of an annex to accommodate 150 girls; (2) trade extension 
classes for girls who were temporarily out of employment; and 
(3) vocational guidance tests for girls who were seeking jobs 
without any knowledge of what they were able to do. This last- 
named experiment is one of unusual interest and far reaching in 
its influence. 

Miss Marshall states that the school during the past year has 
covered the cost of materials used in the trade departments; 
the cost of all supplies for non-vocational, art, and physical train- 
ing classes; the cost of all repairs to machinery and equipment, 



6 

and certain repairs to the building; the cost for equipping an 
annex, SI, 200; and the cost of all new equipment needed for the 
school, $1,766.44. The cost of materials for the year has been 
$9,107.85, the credit from sales of stock on hand, $17,655.74, 
making a net gain of $8,547.89. 

Miss Marshall urges with convincing force the need of a new 
building and enlarged accommodations. She recommends that 
the Board of Education take under consideration the advisability 
of continuing the work of the trade school through the month of 
August and of permitting the summer sessions during the months 
of July and August to be from 9 A. M. to 1 P. M. 

Mr. Charles J. Pickett, principal of the Vocational School for 
Boys, reports an increase in attendance for the year of approxi- 
mately 20 per cent., with no admission of pupils from the sixth 
year grade, which the year before formed about 25 per cent, of 
the school. Owing to this increase in attendance and to the 
prospective increase in the year to come, the entire building has 
been turned over to the vocational school, the elementary school 
being transferred to P. S. 89 and the high school annex to P. S. 54 
and P. S. 179. This increase in accommodations and the erection 
of a new auto-machine shop affords the school ample room for 
needed expansion in attendance and activity for some time to 
come. Mr. Pickett makes a very interesting statement of his co- 
operative efforts with outside agencies and with the school authori- 
ties. The extent of this cooperation with the Department of 
Supplies and with the Building Department is shown by the 
following : 

Amount of supplies furnished on requisition $6,745 .55 

Value of finished products and of work completed by the pupils 20,185 .90 

Mr. George J. Loewy, principal of the Murray Hill Vocational 
School, makes a strong plea for the erection of an annex to his 
school building and for a proper equipment of the building. This 
school is badly hampered by lack of a suitable building and equip- 



ment. The Board of Superintendents and the Board of Education 
have already acted favorably upon the request for the erection 
of an annex and the purchase of suitable equipment, but the Board 
of Estimate has as yet taken no action on the proposition. In 
addition to a suitable building and equipment, Mr. Loewy recom- 
mends changes in the method of licensing trade teachers so as 
to be able to secure men of the required experience, ability, and 
character; the organization of courses for the training of teachers; 
and changes in the hours of attendance of pupils so as to permit 
the introduction of social activities. 

In his report on the Brooklyn Vocational School opened 
June 21, 1915, Mr. Loewy describes the organization of the school 
and the accommodations provided, and urges that a separate 
building, designed especially for vocational instruction, be erected 
in a suitable location in Brooklyn. He suggests that if the school 
must remain in its present quarters — the Carey Building, Nassau 
and Jay Streets — that one or more additional floors in the building 
should be secured for the school, or that the academic work should 
be transferred to the Manual Training School annex, so that the 
rooms at present occupied by classes in academic subjects may be 
turned into additional shops. These reports and the recom- 
mendations made are deserving of careful consideration and 
intelligent action by the Board of Education. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Andrew W. Edson, 

Acting City Superintendent of Schools. 




MANHATTAN TRADE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. ACADEMIC CLASS. 



REPORT ON MANHATTAN TRADE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS 



New York, August 1, 1915. 



Mr. William H. Maxwell, 

City Superintendent of Schools. 



Dear Sir: 

As Principal of the Manhattan Trade School, I beg leave to 
submit my annual report for the school year ending July 31st, 
1915. 



I.— THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL 

THE AIMS AND PURPOSE 

The aims and purposes of the school have not been changed since 
the institution was founded in 1901 . As stated then, the aims were : 

1. To train young girls who are forced to leave school and 
become wage earners, to enter the skilled trades. 

2. To imbue them with a love and respect for work. 

3. To arouse in them a desire to become the best type of 
workers. 

The school has always endeavored to bridge the gap between 
the industries which girls can enter at 15 or 16 years of age, and 
the compulsory education requirements which permit them to 
leave elementary schools at 14. It is estimated that each year 
between thirty and forty thousand of these young girls become 
wage earners in different occupations in New York City. Because 
they are untrained, most of them enter jobs where there is little 
or no hope of advancement, and the trade school is endeavoring 
not only to help them to make a wiser choice of their vocations, 
but to give them sufficient skill to make their future success 
reasonably certain. It encourages them to look beyond the 
immediate job and wage which is all too frequently in the nature 
of a "blind alley occupation" and urges them to pursue lines of 
work where there is chance for advancement as experience increases 
so that they may become capable, self-supporting women. 

It is now five years since the trade school, founded in 1901, 
and maintained as a private, philanthropic institution, was 
incorporated into the New York Public School System, and 
became a free public school. During these five years the school 
has had a steady and normal growth, and its far-seeing founders, 
who were pioneers for the entire country in making trade training 
possible for young girl wage earners, have been the first to recog- 
nize the successful development of the school under public control. 
Their interest in its progress has been maintained and their 
financial assistance with phases of the work which are not as yet 



10 

supported by the public, has been an important factor in the 
successful development of the school. Ever since the school was 
taken over by the City, the Manhattan Trade School Board 
has paid the salary of a physician to make physical examinations 
of all trade school girls; has contributed from $5,000 to $7,000 
yearly to maintain a Student Aid Fund to help girls who could 
not attend the school without financial help and who would there- 
fore be forced into unskilled jobs; has given the equipment for 
the salesroom, and has loaned, free of charge, about $4,000 worth 
of equipment used in the trade departments; has assisted in 
supporting several new experiments, besides giving much of their 
personal time and attention towards promoting the work of the 
school. 

REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION 

As the Manhattan Trade School endeavors to bridge the gap 
between compulson^ elementary education and entrance into 
industry, girls are admitted when they have completed the mini- 
mum schooling required by law, although every effort is made 
to induce applicants to remain in elementary school until they 
have completed the eight grades. Candidates for admission to 
to trade school must be either, 

Graduates of elementary school (no age requirement), 
or, 

14 years of age, and eligible for emplo} r ment certificates; that is, have 
completed the 6th year in elementary school. 

CHOICE OF VOCATIONAL' COURSES 

Almost every girl who applies for admission to the trade school 
has her mind definitely fixed upon the trade she desires to learn. 
Unless there are apparent reasons for not doing so, the girl's wish 
is respected and she is permitted to enter the trade department 
of her choice. If, however, the girl is unsuccessful in the trade 
which she chooses, she is advised to try the work in other depart- 
ments until she discovers the trade she likes best and for which 
she is best adapted. 

As girls frequently choose a line of work which they are not 
able to pursue and as there is still a rather general feeling on the 



11 



part of elementary school principals and teachers that the trade 
school is the place for their dullest girls, the Board of Education 
has wisely provided for a probationary period of five months, 
after which girls who prove unfit may be excluded from the school. 
This is most satisfactory to both girls and parents, since it does 
not encourage a girl to learn a trade for which she is obviously 
unsuited, nor does it encourage parents to make the necessary 
sacrifice to give a girl the training only to have her prove unsuc- 
cessful in the end. As a matter of fact, a large number of girls 
who imagine they wish to learn a trade find the immediate wage 
return in an unskilled job too tempting and so drop out of school 
before the end of the probationary period. The school has to 
compete with shops offering "pay while learning," and even 
though it is known that such offers are usually fictitious, the desire 
for an immediate income frequently overrules the better judgment 
of both girls and parents. 




MANHATTAN TRADE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. STRAW SEWING. 



12 

As to dull girls who are problems in elementary school because 
they cannot learn readily from books, it may be said that, with 
few exceptions, they are also problems in the trade school. While 
it is true to some extent that technical skill and the acquisition 
of book knowledge require different types of ability, it is not true 
that dull and unintelligent girls are likely to succeed at skilled 
trades. By far the largest number of "problem" girls who are 
sent to the trade school drop out within a few weeks or months 
after their admission and enter unskilled occupations. 

LENGTH OF COURSE 

The trade school course has been made comparatively short. 
In formulating the course, two questions have been kept in mind : 

1. How long can the average girl, who is obliged to leave school 
at 14 to earn, a livelihood, devote to training? 

2. What is the minimum amount of skill that girls of 15 and 
16 must have to gain entrance to skilled trades and have a fair 
opportunity for good work wages? 

The school has found that one year (12 months) is the shortest 
time in which the average girl can acquire sufficient training to 
be admitted to skilled trades. If a girl can accomplish the re- 
quired amount of work in a year, she is readily accepted as an 
apprentice with fair wages and opportunities for advancement. 
The fixing of a definite minimum standard for recommending 
girls to trades has increased the number of those who are willing 
to make the necessary sacrifices to remain in the school the entire 
year. 

Although the required course of training extends over this brief 
period of time, girls may remain longer, if they wish, and so gain 
increased skill and experience. The reason for fixing the mini- 
mum, rather than the maximum requirements, is obvious, since 
the purpose of the school is to help girls who are immediately 
confronted with the duty of self-support. Most of these girls 



13 

could not possibly afford to continue in school more than one 
year at most, and an opportunity to acquire even a small amount 
of skill enables them to make a beginning in trades that would 
otherwise be closed to them. 

The one year course, however, covers nearly two years of 
instruction as compared with other schools, as both the daily 
and yearly sessions are longer. The daily sessions are from 
9 until 5, and the school is closed for August only. This arrange- 
ment is made so that girls who are eager to go to work may not 
be forced to waste any time. 



Requirements for Placement and Certification 
placement 

No girl is recommended for placement in her trade until she 
has been in attendance at the school for 200 days and has been 
given credit for 1,400 hours of instruction. A girl of average 
ability can complete the required course in this length of time, 
although many girls who are slow in their work require much 
longer. The courses are so arranged that girls may enter the 
school at any time and must accomplish a definite, fixed amount 
of work before they are eligible for placement. There are no 
term or class promotions and no fixed dates of graduation. Girls 
are promoted from process to process as rapidly as their ability 
permits, and, therefore, complete their training at different times 
throughout the year, and are placed whenever there is demand 
for them in their particular trades. 

CERTIFICATION 

While diplomas are given in recognition of the trade school 
training, they are not given until girls have proved their ability 
to succeed at trade. Since girls are being placed in the different 
trades throughout the year, an arrangement is made for only 
one so-called graduating exercise, in January of each year. The 
girls who receive their diplomas at that time are those who have 



14 

completed their trade courses during the previous year; who 
have worked at their trades for at least three months; and who 
have been reported as satisfactory by their employers. The 
requirements for certification from the trade school are therefore : 

1. A minimum attendance of 200 days at the school, com- 
prising 1,400 hours of instruction. 

2. Completion of the required course in any given trade, with 
a satisfactory record. 

3. Employment for three months in the trade, with a satis- 
factory report from the employer. 

If a girl's school record is not wholly satisfactory when she 
is placed, a longer period in trade is required before she is given 
her certificate, or if her employer's report for the first three months 
is not acceptable she is still permitted to try again, and as soon 
as the employer is willing to report her satisfactory, she is eligible 
for her diploma. The girls who come together for diplomas each 
year are, therefore, girls who have actually "made good" in their 
occupations. The trade school diplomas differ from other diplo- 
mas in this respect; namely, that they certify not only the school 
accomplishment, but the ability to use that accomplishment 
successfully in trade. 

This plan of certification has been most efficacious in raising 
the standards of the school and in increasing the number of girls 
who remain to complete their trade courses. 



II— REGISTRATION AND ATTENDANCE 

ADMISSION 

At the opening of the school year, September 14, 1914, there 
were 461 girls in attendance who had started their trade courses 
during the previous year. The new admissions during the year, 
1914-1915, were as follows: 



15 

September 196 

October 50 

November 49 

December 61 

January 42 

February 121 

March 199 

April 151 

May 78 

June 86 

July 193 

Of this number, 114 were girls who returned for supplementary 
trade courses during their dull periods of unemployment, and 79 
were girls who, while they were out of work, came for trade tests 
and assistance in securing new places. Both of these lines of 
work were undertaken in cooperation with the Mayor's Com- 
mittee on Unemployment and the Vacation War Relief Work 
Committee, and will be described later. The remaining 1,494 
girls were regular trade school pupils. 

REGISTRATION AND ATTENDANCE 

The average enrollment for the year has been 659, and the 
average attendance has been 610 — 93 per cent, of the total enroll- 
ment. This high per cent, of attendance is achieved only by 
making a conscious effort in this direction. It is considered an 
important part of the girl's trade training to learn to be regular 
at her work, and to be on time every morning so that various 
incentives for both individual and cooperative effort in promptness 
and regularity are an important part of the trade school training. 
Girls are never permitted to be absent or tardy unless they bring 
notes from home stating the cause. Comments from employers 
regarding the dependableness of trade school girls show the value 
of such training. 

AGES AND GRADES OF THE TRADE SCHOOL GIRLS 

While the trade school does not refuse to admit girls of 14 
who are obliged to leave elementary school after completing the 



10 

OB grade, it tries in every possible way to induce them to remain 
there as long as they can. In frequent instances where girls have 
left elementary school merely because they have become tired 
of it, or because they imagine the trade school may suit them 
better, they have been persuaded to return to elementary school 
and even to remain there until graduation. 

For those who are determined to leave elementary school and 
enter the trade school, the law forbidding the employment of girls 
under 16 years of age for more than eight hours a day has been 
of some assistance, because it makes it somewhat easier to per- 
suade these girls to remain at the trade school longer than the 
required time and so to acquire greater skill and thoroughness 
in their work. As the number of applicants has been so great 
during the past year that not more than 50 per cent, could be 
admitted, the graduates of elementary school have been given 
preference, and every effort has been made in cooperation with 
the greatly improved system of attendance to return the under- 
graduates to elementary school until there is room for them in 
the trade school. 

The ages and grades of the trade school girls admitted during 
the year 1914-1915 are as follows: 



8 per cent below 14 years of age.* 

41 per cent between 14 and 15 years of age. 
30 per cent between 15 and 16 years of age. 
16 per cent between 16 and 17 years of age. 
5 per cent over 17. 

Grades 

2 per cent from D classes. 
13 per cent from 6B grade. 

9 per cent from 7 A grade. 
8 per cent from 7B grade. 
4 per cent from 8 A grade. 

54 per cent from 8B grade (graduates) . 
10 per cent transferred from high school. 



* These arc all graduates of elementary schools. Unless graduates, girls 
must be 14 to be admitted. 



17 
NATIONALITIES OF THE TRADE SCHOOL GIRLS 

The trade school does not appeal to girls of any particular 
race, nor is there evidence that racial differences show markedly 
in a girl's aptitude for one or another line of training. Girls of 
all nationalities are admitted on an equality, and given a chance 
to prove their fitness entirely on individual merit. 

During the year 1914-1915 the various nationalities have been 
represented as follows: 

Italian 293 or 28 .3 per cent. 

Jewish 256 or 25 per cent. 

German 139 or 13 per cent. 

American : 133 or 13 .8 per cent. 

Negro 15 or 1 per cent. 

Irish 53 or 5.1 per cent. 

Bohemian 105 or 10 . 1 per cent. 

Miscellaneous 39 or 3.7 per cent. 



DISTRIBUTION OF TRADE SCHOOL GIRLS BY BOROUGHS 

As the Manhattan Trade School is the only free public trade 
school for girls in New York City, the pupils may come from all of 
the different boroughs. As a matter of fact, however, the expense of 
carfare and the time consumed in travel is a distinct hardship for 
those coming from the more distant sections, so that the majority 
of the girls come from Manhattan Borough. Parents in Brooklyn 
and Staten Island, and frequently in remote sections of the Bronx 
who wish to send their daughters to the trade school often find 
the distance and the expense for carfares so great as to make it 
prohibitive for them to do so. Then, too, owing to the fact 
that the sessions do not close until five o'clock, the girls living 
in remote sections not only arrive home late, but have to travel 
during the rush hours. 



18 

The distribution of trade school girls by boroughs is as follows: 

From Manhattan 60 .6 per cent. 

From Bronx 16 per cent. 

From Brooklyn 19 per cent. 

From Queens 4 per cent. 

From Richmond 0.4 per cent. 

WITHDRAWALS DURING THE YEAR 1914-1915 

Of the total number of girls at the Manhattan Trade School 
during the year, 

386 completed their courses and were placed. 

79 came for trade tests only, and left as soon as the tests were completed. 
313 left to go to work without completing their courses. 

57 left because of illness. 

49 left to return to other public schools or to enter business schools. 

27 moved away from the city. 

40 were dropped for inability or indifference, or lost. 

60 left because they were needed at home. 

60 left for miscellaneous, undetermined reasons. 

Of those who dropped out without completing their courses, 
the majority did so during the first six months. 

272 remained less than one month (79 of these came for trade tests only). 

179 remained more than one and less than three months. 

128 remained more than three months and less than six months. 

106 remained more than six months and less than one year. 

Of these it may be said that a considerable number tried the 
trade school as a means of last resort, and would probably never 
have come at all if the system of vocational guidance and pre- 
vocational training were better established in the elementary 
schools. A goodly number of them dropped out to work tempo- 
rarily and returned to the school later to complete their courses. 

The question of economic necessity as a cause for withdrawal 
is a very difficult one to determine. The income in most of the 
trade school girls' families is variable, and frequently some tern- 



19 



porary hardship induces a girl to leave school to go to work, when 
there may be no permanent necessity for it. Once at work, 
however, it is very difficult to persuade a girl to return to school. 



Ill —CHARACTER OF INSTRUCTION AND COURSES 

OF STUDY 

CHARACTER OF INSTRUCTION 

Instruction in the trade school is largely individual. Classes 
are so arranged that girls may enter at any time, complete the 
work of each grade as rapidly as their ability will permit, and pass 
on to the next. In each trade the work is divided into steps 
leading from simple beginnings to more complex processes, and 
girls advance from table to table, from room to room, or from 
machine to machine, in accordance with their own effort and 
ability. Each table, room, or machine has its special tasks, to 
which a certain time allotment is given, so that girls who cannot 
accomplish the tasks assigned to that particular step within the 
required time soon recognize that they will be more than a year 
in completing their course. Girls who can work ahead of scheduled 
time are given credit for such time as they can save, and may 
therefore complete the course in less than the year. This method 
of promotion places a premium on individual effort, and gives a 
keen zest to all of the work. 

In order to gain promotion a girl's work must, of course, 
reach certain required standards, otherwise she is kept back, and 
expected to repeat it, or she is urged to try some other trade if 
the results of her efforts show no fitness for the one she has chosen. 
The fact that a girl knows that she will not be permitted to go 
on with her trade if she cannot reach the requisite standards, is 
of great help in stimulating her to do her best. 

A record of each girl's work is kept from the time she enters 
the school. This is estimated in quality of workmanship, rapidity 



20 

with which she works, and her attitude toward her tasks. When 
placing girls in trade these records are used by the placement 
secretary in recommending them for positions, where their par- 
ticular talents will count most. Moreover, it helps the school to 
speak with some authority, both as to the kind of service a girl 
can render and her probable wage value. It has, too, given the 
girl an idea of measuring her own efficiency and an understanding 
of the basis on which her wage value may be reckoned. 

The program at the trade school is so arranged that each girl 
has approximately 

(a) 5 hours a day for trade practice — 25 hours per week. 

(b) H hours a day for non-vocational subjects (arithmetic, textiles, 

design, etc.) applied to her trade — 7| hours per week. 

(c) i hour a day for hygiene and gymnastics — 2\ hours per week. 

TRADE DEPARTMENTS 

While there are many different kinds of jobs or occupations 
at which young girls work, investigation has shown that very 
few of these require training for entrance. The trades, therefore, 
for which the school trains are confined to those that require 
some degree of skill, that offer future opportunity for advance- 
ment, and that will employ girls from 14 to 16 years of age, who 
have had only a minimum amount of elementary school education. 

The training in each trade department is subdivided into 
various grades or steps. In each grade new principles and pro- 
cesses are introduced, so that girls pass from process to process 
until a thorough knowledge of underlying principles is gained. 
The classes are organized like trade workrooms, where each 
part of the trade is taught by an expert in that particular line. 
The teacher of a group acts as for. woman or head worker, taking 
charge of a table, a room or a group of machines, as the case may 
be. She is responsible for such portions of the work as are assigned 
to her by the person in charge of the shop. She not only teaches 
the girls how to perform the different parts, but works with them 
herself, and sees that each has a chance for practice in all of the 



21 



different processes. A girl thus passes from table to table and 
from room to room, gaining in the course of a year a knowledge 
of all parts of the trade which her judgment and maturity will 
permit. At the end of her course she is placed as an apprentice 
in her trade, thoroughly understanding its language, and ready 
to begin at a level sufficiently high to insure her advancement 
to higher and higher planes. 




MANHATTAN TRADE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. OPERATING DEPARTMENT. 

The trade departments of the school comprise the following 
lines of work: 

Needle Trades 



Dressmaking, in which girls not only learn to sew both by hand and 
machine (foot power), to make children's clothing, underwear and simple 
house dresses, but in which they have opportunity to work on elaborate 
gowns made from expensive materials, and are trained for positions as 
finishers on waists and skirts in high-class custom dressmaking shops. 



22 

Millinery, in which girls learn to sew by hand and machine, to make 
wire and buckram frames, to sew straw by hand, and to make and trim 
hats both in summer and winter materials. 

Lamp shade making, in which the manufacture of candle and lamp 
shades of silks, laces, cretonnes, fancy papers, etc.. is taught. 

Electric Power Machine Operating Trades 

Clothing machine operating, which gives a knowledge of how to control, 
operate and care for an electric power machine, for the manufacture of 
ready-made clothing. The course covers all processes used in garment 
making, practice in shop methods of handling garments produced in 
large quantities, and speed tests of various kinds. 

Embroidery machine operating, in which girls after taking a part of 
the course in clothing machine operating may specialize in different lines 
of machine embroidery, such as hemstitching, buttonholing, cording, 
seallopping, bonnaz and Singer embroidery. 

Straw machine operating, in which girls learn to operate straw sewing 
machines for the manufacture of men's and women's straw hats of infinite 
variety and shape, and made from coarse and fine straw braids. 

Pasting Trades 

Sample Mounting, where girls work with paste, learning to cut and 
mount all kinds of samples in silks, ribbons, embroideries, braids, woolens 
and every variety of fabric, as well as to make the different kinds of books, 
cards and cases on which samples are displayed. 

Novelty case making, in which girls are taught to work with glue, using 
cardboards, cretonnes and tapestries for the making of all sorts of fancy 
boxes, cases, desk sets, etc., for household use. 

French edge making, in which girls are taught a very skillful process 
used in the manufacture of velvet hats, where the velvet edge of the brim 
is rolled over a heated rubber wire. 

Embroidery Designing and Perforating of Embroidery Patterns 

This is a special course and taken only by girls who show a particular 
aptitude for it and who are willing to remain in the school 
for six months or more for a special course in addition to the required 
design courses. 



23 
NON-VOCATIONAL CLASSES 

Owing to the fact that the girls who come to the trade school 
vary in their elementary school education, from the completion 
of the 6B grade to first or second year high school, the question 
of applying the non-vocational subjects to the trade courses pre- 
sents unusual difficulties, although considerable valuable work can 
be done in relating the English, Arithmetic, Accounts, Textiles 
and study of Industrial Conditions to the trade instruction. 

The actual work of the school in the sale of its product, the 
purchase of supplies, the dealing with customers, the handling 
of accounts and other similar matters, offers excellent opportunity 
for correlating the non-vocational and the trade instruction. 

Arithmetic. The work in arithmetic covers, in review, problems 
in the use of measurement, in the use of the tape measure, yard 
stick and measuring gauges, for all sorts of machine stitching, 
for planning of tucks, ruffles, hems and for cutting materials for 
garments or parts of garments. It covers also the problems of 
dollars and cents in estimating costs for materials and labor used 
in the production of various articles; problems of hours and 
minutes in reckoning labor costs and in giving estimates for the 
completion of orders and the making out of bills and checks and 
keeping simple accounts. 

English. The related work in English consists of the correct 
spelling of all terms used in the trade, the writing of a variety of 
business letters, such as letters ordering bills of goods, making 
appointments with customers, making application for positions 
and similar business letters. Topics of especial significance 
in trade are used for compositions, and considerable emphasis 
is laid on the use of correct English in all forms of address and in 
general conversation. 

Textiles. In all trades for which the school trains girls, a 
certain knowledge of textiles is essential. While there is not time, 
and the girls are not sufficiently mature to study the subject 
scientifically, a study of fabrics, for an acquaintance with their 



24 



names, qualities, approximate prices, widths into which they are 
woven, and their uses, forms a part of the related work of each 
trade. Girls learn also to judge between printed and woven 
fabrics, how to test for fading, shrinkage and the like, and to 
determine between good and poor qualities. In this course, too, 
the subject of dress is taken up with especial reference to what 
girls should wear to business, and several exhibits of suitable 
clothing, including shoes, underwear, dresses and hats, are arranged 
for the girls to examine and discuss. Planning a budget for 
clothes, in proportion to one's income, and discussions to arouse 
interest in appropriate, hygienic, economical and attractive dress 
is a conscious and definite aim of the course. 




MANHATTAN THAI)]'; SCHOOL I'oi! GIRLS 



ART ROOM. 



Art as Related to Trade Subjects. There is little attempt to 
leach art for its own sake, and no attempt to train artists and 
designers. The art courses at the school consist rather in opening 



25 
« 
the girl's eyes to the art possibilities in their trades. To be a good 
dressmaker or milliner, they must have correct ideas of line and 
proportion, an eye for color and a sense of balance and ryhthm. 
The trade school art classes emphasize more especially the import- 
ance of developing taste. For the few who have especial aptitude 
there are certain tricks in trade designing which can be acquired, 
and which may lead to fairly remunerative positions, such as 
making patterns for embroideries and certain lines of stencilling. 
No particular emphasis is laid on this branch of art work, however, 
as such positions are extremely limited in number, whereas a need 
for better taste in all lines of industrial endeavor is only too 
apparent. 

Industrial Conditions. For want of a better name, the trade 
school gives a course called ' 'Industrial Conditions," the purpose 
of which is to acquaint girls who are preparing for workshop 
and factories, with the laws, regulations and conditions relating 
thereto. The course includes a study of New York factory laws, 
especially with reference to women's labor, and a study of organi- 
zations and departments whose purpose is the betterment of 
working consitions, such as labor unions, Consumers' League 
and State factory inspection. It deals also with business ethics, 
and endeavors to give a girl a fair understanding of her rights 
and obligations as a member of the industrial army. The lack 
of such knowledge is frequently responsible not only for a girl's 
own failure and disappointment, but is in some measure responsible 
for the numerous labor difficulties which bring untold hardships 
upon thousands of helpless workers. The course aims to give 
girls sufficient knowledge of conditions, not only to make it impos- 
sible for them to be exploited or imposed upon, but to make them 
interested in helping to better conditions under which they live 
and work. 

Hygiene and Physical Training. Aside from trade practice 
and instruction in related subjects the trade school is confronted 
with unusual responsibilities in regard to the health of would-be 
trade workers. Health considerations, although important in 
all schools, become of prime importance where preparation for a 



26 

vocation is dependent upon certain physical prerequisites if the 
trade worker is successful. It is absolutely essential that the 
school should know whether or not a girl is physically fit to pursue 
the trade she has chosen, and either to prevent her from taking 
it, if her physical unfitness is serious, or to see that her deficiencies 
are remedied, if they are possible of correction. Physical fitness 
is not only a keynote to a girl's success in trade, but for the future 
of the race it is imperative that girls who enter industry shall 
understand the principles of plrysical care and protection. It 
would be little short of criminal neglect to permit a girl to train 
for a standing trade who had flat foot or pelvic weaknesses, or 
to allow a girl with serious nervous difficulties to enter an operating 
trade where a high speed tension and the constant buzz of machin- 
ery could not fail to have a deleterious effect. Plrysical training 
is, therefore, unusually strong at the trade school. It is in charge 
of a teacher transferred from one of the high schools because of 
her exceptional ability to handle difficult problems requiring 
insight and judgment, as well as initiative and originality. Under 
her guidance the girls' improvement is most marked, and effects 
of their improved conditions show in more efficient work in their 
trade classes, in more regular attendance, in greatly improved 
posture and appearance and in keener interest and ambition in 
becoming better types of workers. 

School Physician. Through the kindness of the founders of 
the Manhattan Trade School, a doctor is provided who makes 
a physical examination of each girl and cooperates with the teacher 
of physical training in following up and correcting cases of need. 

The Work of the Department of Physical Training. Like the 
classes in related subjects, the department of physical training 
comprises the entire school. The work is divided as follows: 

A. Physical exercises for a certain number of periods each week. 
These include exercises for: 

(1) Relief work, to counteract the strain of close confinement at trade 

practice. 

(2) Corrective work, to improve posture and correct defects. 

(3) Educational work, to give conscious control over the body and 

its members. 



27 

(4) Hygienic work. 

(5) Recreative exercises, such as games and dances. 

B. Physical examinations. These are made twice during a girl's course, 

once shortly after she enters, and again before she is placed in 
trade. A careful record of her physical condition is kept, and 
where there is occasion for treatment the cooperation of her 
parents is sought, and either by the aid of the school doctor or 
by cooperating with the clinics, the necessary treatment is given. 
1,089 physical examinations were made during the year. 

C. Follow-up work. Where the physical examination shows defects 

that can be remedied, these are recorded on a follow-up card 
and the girl is required to report systematically until they are 
corrected. The following list shows the extent of such work 
done in cooperation with the clinics, hospitals and the dental 
college during the year 1914-1915: 

295 have had teeth filled and cared for. 
108 are still treating for teeth. 

87 have had eyes treated. 

23 have had ears treated. 
190 have had spine treated. 

12 have had tonsils or adenoids removed. 
2 have had treatment for feet. 

8 have had treatment for fingers. 
7 have had treatment for skin. 

9 have had treatment for nose. 
65 have been cured of bitten nails. 
35 are being treated for bitten nails. 

D. First aid. Considerable "first aid work" has to be done continuously. 

About 10 per cent, of this is due to slight accidents happening 
in the school because of the use of machinery, electric irons, etc. 
Fully 90 per cent., however, is due to lack of care at home, and 
must be attended to if girls are properly fitted to go on with 
their trade training. During the year the following number of 
first aid cases have been cared for: 

Hands (burns, cuts, pricks and infections) . . 254 

Sore throats 29 

Eyes (removal of foreign substances) 6 

Sprained arms or wrists 6 

Ears 2 

Headaches 25 

Toothaches 16 

Cramps and Nausea 23 



28 

Where the cases have been at all serious, the school physician 
has given the treatment, but all slight accidents have been taken 
care of by the Department of Physical Training. 

E. Social work. Through an organization of the girls under the direction 
of the physical training teachers, the noon recess is utilized for 
attractive and wholesome forms of recreation and pleasure for 
the purpose of interesting girls in healthful pursuits and creating 
a desire for clean amusements when they enter trade. A student 
council is formed by the girls, one representative being elected 
from each class. The council assumes responsibility of bringing 
about a spirit of cooperation and helpfulness among the girls. 
Once a week a council meeting is held to report upon the order 
and spirit in each department, and to discuss ways and means 
for achieving better standards. 

At these meetings the girls discuss all matters which may 
properly be handled by the students. Through the council, 
the students are encouraged to assist in the care of the lunch- 
room, in the assembly-room, gymnasium, lavatories, and to help 
keep up the general order of the school. They also assist in 
arranging the noon recreation periods, plan the dance programs, 
basket-ball games and other forms of pleasure. In this way 
many girls get their first ideas of self-control and cooperative 
effort. 



COOKING CLASSES AND THE PREPARATION OF THE DAILY LUNCHEON 

It has been found exceedingly difficult to arouse an interest 
in the cooking classes at the trade school. This is due to several 
causes : 

1. The work has had to be done in the basement, with very 
limited equipment, and there has been no opportunity to expand 
it into training for remunerative positions in this line. 

2. The girls who come to the trade school are looking forward 
lo wage earning positions almost immediately and there are very 
few opportunities for girls of 14 and 15 years of age in trades 
which require a knowledge of foods. 



29 

The course in cooking at the trade school is, therefore, optional. 
It is, however, urged as an important feature of every girl's edu- 
cation, and the work is so arranged that each class meets daily 
for six consecutive weeks, an hour and a half each day. The classes 
are composed of from 12 to 15 girls who assist in preparing and 
serving the daily luncheon to the entire school, numbering between 
six and seven hundred. The girls, therefore, who take the course 
in cooking receive an excellent practical training, since all food 
is prepared and served in family quantities. Special emphasis 
is placed on the value of eating regularly a wholesome, nutritious 
luncheon to keep up one's working efficiency. With proper 
equipment and facilities it is hoped that this work may be expanded 
in the new building and that some of the older girls may be encour- 
aged to prepare for vocations along these lines. 

IV— TEACHERS 

In every trade department the teaching requirements differ, 
as there is a lack of uniformity in organizing the various trade 
departments, because of the different types of work to be done. 
This makes it peculiarly difficult to regulate the teaching staff 
according to any general plan of selection, assignment, kind of 
position or salary, or to make uniform requirements for eligibility 
to trade school positions. Not only do some of the trades require 
a much higher degree of skill than others, but the subdivisions 
within the trades are so dissimilar that a uniform plan for teaching 
positions with a uniform salary schedule not only does not con- 
form to conditions as they are found in the industry, but unneces- . 
sarily increases the salary budget of the trade school. 

So far as the teachers are concerned, the trade school could 
be better organized if the positions and salaries were fixed for 
each separate trade in accordance with the positions and payment 
existing in that particular industry. Any other plan means 
either that the salaries must be fixed so low that the high class 
worker in highly skilled trades cannot be secured for the trade 
school, or must be fixed so high that those who teach the less 



30 

skilled occupations are paid all out of proportion to what they 
would receive in industry. 

The greatest difficulty to the development of the trade school 
work is the question of securing the right kind of teachers in each 
department and subdivision of the trade. 

The maintenance of trade shops for the purpose of training 
workers is a comparatively new idea, and makes necessary a new 
conception of the teacher and her functions. If the trade teaching 
is well done, the teacher stands in relation to her class much as a 
master workman stands to a group of apprentices whom he is 
instructing. Until this difference is more clearly understood 
by the educational authorities so that it is possible to bring about 
a more flexible plan of selecting, appointing and paying for teachers 
in the trade schools, the progress of vocational training will be 
impeded. 

With regard to the organization of the teaching staff in the 
trade school, this much may be said in general: 

First. Each trade department must have a head. This person must 
be thoroughly conversant with the demands of her trade, she must have 
high standards, she must know how to plan her work and how to keep a 
number of assistants busy. She must, in general, be an expert in her 
trade and have administrative or business ability, as otherwise the right 
trade atmosphere is not created in her department. 

Secondly. Under her must be assistants, each with special quali- 
fications to teach that particular portion of the trade over which she 
exercises responsibility. It is more important that these assistants 
be specialists in their particular branch of the trade than that they have 
a general knowledge of it. As special teachers of certain branches of 
literature, mathematics or science are needed in other schools, so the 
trade schools need specialists in waist draping, skirt draping, sleeve 
making, embroidery operating or straw operating, not merely dressmakers 
or operators. 

Thirdly. Where training is dependent upon the manufacture of a 
marketable product, each department has varying needs for clerical and 
other supplementary service. For example, in clothing operating where 



31 

garments are produced in large quantities, the work of preparing these 
for the operators, for cataloging and marking them for sale, requires 
the services of a cutter and one or more stock girls. In dressmaking 
where gowns are made for individual customers, and where the materials 
and trimmings for each gown must be purchased separately, an order clerk 
to take charge of the fitting room and interview customers, and a shopper 
who is kept busy at the stores matching materials, buying trimmings 
and procuring samples are necessary. 

Fourthly. Aside from the necessary assistants in trade departments, 
for manufacturing goods and getting them ready for sale, there is a large 
responsibility in disposing of the finished product made by the classes. 
This requires a school salesroom, with a person in charge, to see that 
all work is properly marked for sale, to develop a market for its dis- 
posal and to create a demand for such articles as will furnish the classes 
with correct problems for their training. Here, too, a person to wrap 
bundles, deliver parcels, put away stock, etc., is necessary. 

Fifthly. A bookkeeping department is essential at the trade school, 
to attend to all cost accounting for each department, to collect all bills 
and deposit all moneys received from sales and see that they are turned 
over monthly to the Auditor of the Board of Education. 



THE SOURCE OF SUPPLY FOR TRADE SCHOOL TEACHERS 

The source of supply is another difficult question. The trade 
school training partakes more of the shop than does the average 
school, and more of the school than does the average shop, so 
that the trade worker alone, unless she has the inborn gift for 
teaching, is not able to handle all of the teaching problems involved 
altogether successfully. The expert trade worker frequently 
has little patience with the beginner who does not show immediate 
aptitude for her work. In the trade school, therefore, the best 
results have been achieved by having the teaching staff composed 
partly of expert trade workers and partly of trained teachers. 
In the elementary divisions of each trade department, teachers 
who have been trained to analyze their work and to demonstrate 
the how and why of each process have been found to be more suc- 
cessful. Where this training for teaching has been supplemented 
by trade experience the best results are obtained. In the more 
advanced divisions of the trade departments, however, the trained 



32 

teacher is wholly inadequate, and the expert trade worker is the 
only one capable of handling the work successfully. By bringing 
together these trained teachers and expert trade workers in fre- 
quent conferences or teachers' meetings, where every step in the 
trade training is fully discussed and methods of work agreed upon, 
little difficulty has been found in bringing about a cooperative 
spirit in the work, and making it altogether satisfactory both 
from the standpoint of the beginner and the more advanced pupil. 

THE TEACHERS OF NON-VOCATIONAL SUBJECTS 

The non- vocational teachers are regular grade teachers who 
have shown special interest in correlating the regular school sub- 
jects to the trade teaching. They work in close cooperation with 
the trade teachers, getting from them constantly the concrete prob- 
lems which girls are daily meeting in the trade classrooms, and 
hence relating their teaching so closely to the shop work that it 
has a keen interest for the girls. Both trade teachers and girls 
from the trade departments are encouraged to bring their daily 
problems to the non-vocational classes so that the contents of each 
lesson in arithmetic or English or textiles may have a vital bearing 
on the trade training. 

NUMBER OF PUPILS TO A TEACHER 

The non-vocational and physical training teachers handle the 
entire number of girls in the school. The classes vary in size, 
however, according to the trade groups, the average number of 
pupils to a teacher per class being approximately 40 girls. 

In the trade classes the number of girls to a teacher varies 
with the particular type of work. In the elementary grades the 
classes are composed of from 20 to 30, whereas in the more 
advanced grades where the work is much more difficult and the 
necessity of careful supervision is all important, the groups number 
approximately 10 or 12. In the actual trade shops outside the 



33 



school, the number of apprentices or helpers assigned to a head 
worker is frequently not more than 4 or 5, and in the school a 
teacher cannot possibly do good work with more than 12 girls 
under her care. 




MANHATTAN TRADE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. PASTING AND SHADE MAKING. 



V— PLACEMENT 



The-school does not and cannot guarantee to place its students 
in positions. As a public school, all applicants are admitted 
without discrimination and given at least a five months' trial. 
As might be expected, a large number of these girls do not show 
sufficient ability to succeed in the skilled trades for which the 
school trains, and either drop out early in their courses or are 
advised to enter other lines of work. The girls who remain after 
their trial period and complete the year's training are, however, 
placed by the school without any difficulty. The school con- 



34 

siders the placement of its graduates a very important feature of 
the work, not only from the standpoint of the girl, but even more 
important from the standpoint of keeping the school in such 
continual touch with the demands of industry that its work is 
always up to trade standards and requirements. 

The girls who come to the school for trial and either prove 
disinterested or unsuccessful, and so drop out without completing 
their course of training, are recommended to the Alliance Employ- 
ment Bureau* for placement, unless they have already secured 
jobs for themselves. 

It would, of course, be unwise for the school to place girls 
until the required amount of training was completed, as it would 
not only encourage the girls to leave school before finishing their 
courses, but would give employers a wrong impression of the 
school's standards of training. 

No girl is ever permitted to leave the school because of poverty 
if she has aptitude for her work. For such girls a Student Aid 
Fund is provided by the Manhattan Trade School Board, so that 
all worthy girls who are too poor to attend without financial help, 
may continue in the school until their training is completed. 
During the past year 145 girls have been aided by this fund, 
the amounts ranging from carfares to the approximate wage 
which the girl would earn in an unskilled job if she were obliged 
to go to work. 

The educational value of placement is of great importance 

(a) It enables the school to keep in constant touch with the supply and 
demand of workers in given trades, with the wages paid, and with 
opportunities for advancement, and so prevents training an over- 
supply of workers. 

b) It serves as a continual check upon the school methods. Criticisms 
from employers as to the way in which the girls arc trained and 

* The Alliance Employment Bureau is a private, non-commercial agency, 
organized to help young, unskilled girls to secure employment. 



35 

reports from the girls themselves as to weak places in their prepara- 
tion are of the greatest value in keeping the school up to trade 
requirements. 

(c) It is a perpetual measuring rod for gauging the school's efficiency, 

and prevents going into all kinds of by-paths which are not of 
direct value to girls who must become wage earners. It keeps 
the school constantly pursuing its definite aim and purpose. 

(d) It gives every girl a keen interest and distinct motive in reaching 

the goal for which she is striving, and an earnest desire to bring 
her work up to a high standard. 

(e) The question of formal discipline has no significance in the trade 

school, as every girl knows she must work earnestly to achieve a 
high record if she is to be well placed. 



METHODS USED IN THE PLACEMENT DEPAKTMENT 

The school has definite and well organized plans for securing 
suggestions, criticisms and other helpful information from both 
girls and employers. When a girl is ready for placement her 
school record is turned over to the Placement Department. This 
is supplemented by full reports from all of her teachers, both 
trade and non-vocational. The Placement Secretary, working 
as she does with all departments, knows the girls and knows 
exactly the type of work for which each may be recommended. 
In placing a girl the secretary gives her: 

(a) A letter introducing her to an employer, and 

(b) A blank form upon which she is asked to report at once to the Secretary 

whether or not she has taken the position, and again at the 
end of the week, stating what her employer is paying her. 

If the girl is under 16, the letter of introduction to the employer 
calls his attention to an extract from the Labor Law stating the 
time and the number of hours which 14 to 16 year old girls are 
permitted to work. 

The girl is also given a list of instructions, as follows : 



36 

The Manhattan Trade School requires no fee for placing you. 

It intends to see that you get as fair a chance to earn and to learn as your 
trade offers and your ability permits. 

In return it asks } r ou two things: 

I. In case your position proves unsatisfactory — 

DO NOT "WALK OUT." Instead, 
REPORT your complaint to us, and 
WAIT FOR OUR REPLY before leaving. 

II. Prompt reports. 

AFTER RECEIVING that reply you are entirely free to 
follow its advice or not as you see fit. 

a. A postal on the day you are sent to a place, saying whether 

or not you have taken the position. 

b. A postal one week later, reporting hours, wage, and general 

conditions. 

c. If "laid off" (no matter what the reason) report to us imme- 
diately; in person, if possible; by mail, if not. 

d. Prompt return, fully filled out, of any blanks sent you. 

A Failure to Comply with these requirements means loss of opportunity 
for you, with great inconvenience to us, and if persisted in, results 
finally in an inability on our part to assist you as we would like to do. 

A girl thus started, the most important part of the placement 
work begins, which is to follow her up and see that she has oppor- 
tunity to progress. Nearly all good occupations for girls are 
seasonal, and frequent "lay-offs" make it almost impossible for 
a young girl to adjust herself to industrial conditions without 
assistance. The school, therefore, stands ready to give help and 
advice to every girl who is placed from the school for as long a 
period of time as she needs it, or until she is firmly established 
in her trade and has gained sufficient maturity and experience 
to take entire care of herself. 

Beginning with the first placement, each girl's trade record 
is kept at the school. This record shows for each place; the dates 
between which a girl was employed; name and address of the firm; 
the kind of work and the wages received. These records are kept 



37 

up-to-date by a system of reports secured from both girls and 
employers. Twice a year a letter is sent to employers asking 
them to report upon the trade school girls in their employ. Em- 
ployers are asked to state whether the girl's work is satisfactory; 
if not, what the defects are; what her present wage is; in what 
seasons he is busy, and slack; and whether he would like other 
trade school girls. The girl is asked to report as. to her present 
position; kind of work; present wages, whether weekly or by 
piece; her hours of work; how long she has for luncheon; whether 
she has overtime; if so, how much, and whether or not she is paid 
for it; how much time she loses from slack seasons, and when 
these occur, and anything else which she wishes to state regarding 
her position. 

Although employers occasionally complain that they cannot 
spend time to fill out these reports, in general, they are very 
cooperative in this respect. Girls, naturally, report readily, as 
they value the school's assistance in helping them to secure good 
positions. 

FOLLOW-UP WORK 

The task of "following-up" trade school girls is not an easy 
one, since they live in widely scattered sections of the city. While 
the school does follow-up, and keeps records of all of its graduates, 
it is practically impossible to keep in touch with the large number 
of girls who drop out of the school without completing their 
courses, in order to know what their industrial opportunities are. 
It has been possible in most cases, however, to know something 
about their first positions and wages, and these show in marked 
contrast to the positions and wages secured by the graduates 
of the school. Whereas, nearly 100 per cent, of the school grad- 
uates enter the skilled trades for which they are trained and receive 
beginning wages of $5, $6, and $7, the girls who drop out without 
the training enter unskilled jobs* in which there is little or no 



* These jobs are: cash and messenger service, markers, button sewers, 
basting pullers, candy packers, label pasters, shuttle threaders, tobacco 
strippers, errand girls, etc. 



38 

hope of future advancement, and receive beginning wages rarely 
ever above $3 a week, and frequently as low as $1 a week. 

APPLICATIONS FROM EMPLOYERS 

In the past few years the school has made a better and better 
showing in the placement of its graduates. This is due to the 
fact that the training at the trade school has been strengthened 
in many ways so that employers are more willing to recognize 
the value of the school training and to paj^ the girls better initial 
wages. Although the past year has been a difficult one in many 
ways because of the large number of the unemployed, there has, 
after all, been little cause for complaint so far as the trade school 
girls are concerned. During the past year 924 applications for 
girls have been received from employers. By trades these appli- 
cations have been divided as follows: 

Dressmaking 537 

Millinery 34 

Lamp shades 38 

Sample mounting 11 

Novelty 38 

Clothing operating 176 

Straw operating 22 

Miscellaneous 64 

Art 4 

ADVANCEMENT OF TRADE SCHOOL GRADUATES 

During the year 1914-1915, 114 girls from the supplementary 
training classes were placed, and 272* girls completed their trade 
courses and were placed. 

Of these, 

42 per cent, were placed at $6. 
11 per cent, were placed at $7. 
10 per cent, were placed at between $5.50 and $6. 
31 per cent, were placed at $5. 
C) {)(•)■ cent, only at $4. 

■ : 12 of the girls found their own positions, and the others were placed by 
the placemenl secretary, 



39 

22 per cent, of these girls were under 16 years of age. 

Aside from the first placement of pupils who completed their 
courses during the year, 279 former students have been replaced, 
either temporarily because of short seasons, or because of oppor- 
tunities to better themselves industrially. 

The follow-up work for the year shows advancement of former 
students as follows: 

Girls placed in 1910-1911 show advancement in 1914-1915, as 
follows : 

98 per cent, of the entire number are earning $6 and above. 
83 per cent, of the entire number are earning $8 and above. 
58 per cent, of the entire number are earning $10 and above. 
26 per cent, of the entire number are earning $12 and above. 

The highest wage reached in any one week was $29. 

Girls placed in 1911-1912 show advancement in 1914-1915, as 
follows : 

98 per cent, of the entire number are earning $6 and above. 
73 per cent, of the entire number are earning $8 and above. 
34 per cent, of the entire number are earning $10 and above. 

The highest wage reached in any one week was $43.50. 

Girls placed in 1912-1913 show advancement in 1914-1915, as 

follows : 

83 per cent, of the entire number are earning $7 and above. 
62 per cent, of the entire number are earning $8 and above. 
44 per cent, of the entire number are earning $10 and above. 

The highest wage reached in any one week was $25. 

It must be remembered that the majority of trade school girls 
are either 16 or under when they are placed from the school, 



40 

and that it is not fair to expect them to earn a living wage at that 
time. The trade school has endeavored to show, rather, that 
girls of 15 and 16 who were well trained in the fundamentals of a 
good trade and who were given an opportunity to work at it, could 
acquire enough proficiency to be entirely self-supporting by the 
time they were 18 to 20 years of age, before which time it is hardly 
just that they should be expected to do so. 

The records of the trade school graduates who have been at 
trade three years show to what extent the trade school realizes 
this purpose. 

69 per cent, of the girls from the dressmaking classes are receiving $9 a 

week or above, some earning as high as $18 a week. 
84 per cent, of the girls from the operating classes are receiving $9 a week 

or above, some earning as high as $43.50. 
93 per cent, of the girls from the millinery classes are receiving $9 a week 

or above, some earning as high as $20. 
72 per cent, of the girls from the novelty classes are receiving $9 a week 

or above, some earning as high as $17. 
47 per cent, of the girls from the sample mounting* classes are receiving 

s7 a week or above. 

The obvious disadvantages in quoting average wages is that 
it does not set forth clearly the large number of girls whose indi- 
vidual records of success are far above the average. 

At the yearly graduating exercises in January when 275 
diplomas were awarded to girls who had proved successful in 
their trades during the previous year, the following trade expe- 
riences given by the girls were typical of many others: 



* The majority of the girls who train for sample mounting work come 
from ungraded classes in public schools. Many of these have failed to make 
good in other departments of the school, and while it is not claimed that 
sample mounting is a highly skilled trade, there is no question that these girls 
are receiving much better wages than it would be possible for them to receive 
without this training. They are, on the whole, the type of girl who would 
be earning not more than $3 a week in unskilled jobs. 



41 

Angeline D., 19 years old, told her story, as follows: 

"When I graduated from elementary school my father was ill, and as there 
were several small children, and I was the oldest, I had to go to work to help 
support the family. I was then only a little over 14 years old, and the only 
work I could get to do was in a store, as cash girl, where I could get only $2.50 
a week. Some one from the Settlement near my home advised my mother 
to send me to the trade school, and said that my mother would receive every 
week an amount of money to take the place of my wages. * I went to the trade 
school and took the course in dressmaking, and when I finished my course 

I was placed with Mme , who paid me $5 a week. I have been 

there ever since, and I am now finishing my fourth year there. She has raised 
me steadily until I am now receiving $18 a week. Just as I started to work 
my father died, and I have had to take care of my mother and five brothers 
and sisters who are younger than I. The madam has liked my work so well 
that she now has none but trade school girls in her employ." 

Mary B., 17 years old, told the following story: 

"When I left school I wanted to go to the trade school and learn the straw 
hat operating trade, and started to do so, but after a few months the circum- 
stances at home made it impossible for me to remain, and I had to leave and 
get a job. I went into an office as a helper where I was paid $4 a week, and 
stayed there for some time. Later on things were a little better at home, and I 
went back to the trade school and went on with my course, but after a few 
months I had to leave again because things at home became bad again. This 
time I got $5 a week and remained in the place for some time. There seemed 
to be no chance for me to get ahead, and I wanted to go back to the trade school 
and finish my course. Through the Student Aid Committee at the trade 
school, my mother received enough help each week to let me go to school 
again, until finally I secured a position as a straw operator. I have been out 
of the school now about a year and a half, and have not been idle at all. When 
the straw season has been dull I have been able to take up other' lines of oper- 
ating and have never had to be out of work a day. In the busiest season in 
straw work I have become skillful enough to earn from $35 to $40 a week on 
piece work. If it had not been for the trade school I should probably still 
have been in an office earning not more than $5 or $6 a week, but now I am 
able to take care of myself and be of great heln to my family." 

It is perhaps unfortunate that the results of the trade school's 
work have to be expressed in terms of dollars and cents. On the 



* This girl received help from the Student Aid Fund, without which she 
could not have taken the training. 



42 

other hand, since the purpose of the school is to train girls for 
self-support in industry, it must show that it has made good in 
this respect in order to claim the support of public opinion. The 
results which the school achieves' in terms of character building 
are difficult to show in print. Many letters are received, however, 
from parents, girls, and employers that show what results the school 
has been able to attain in deeper life values as well as in industrial 
efficiency. 

VI.— SALE OF PRODUCT 

EDUCATIONAL VALUE 

By selling the product made by the students in the different 
trade departments, a business-like atmosphere is secured through- 
out the school. While the sale of product is an important feature 
of the school from the standpoint of economy in the cost, by far 
the more important reason for selling the product is found in 
its educational value. The efforts which the students make to 
bring their work up to a market standard, so that it will actually 
sell, gives a purpose and meaning so often found lacking in the 
classroom. The trade school girls are continually confronted 
with the real trade problems which they are certain to meet 
when they go to work. When their work does not sell because 
of its inferior quality, or when customers complain, either because 
of the poor workmanship or because an order is not completed 
on time, the girls learn to understand the meaning of trade require- 
ments in a way which develops their judgment and their sense of 
responsibility. 

Making the product for sale, or what is sometimes called, the 
commercial side of the trade school, is never an end in itself, but 
is always done solely for the purpose of making the trade training 
of greater value to the girls. No order is taken by the school 
unless it serves the educational needs of a class, nor is any girl 
permitted to repeat trade processes merely for the sake of pro- 
ducing materials for sale. Only the kind and the amount of 
work necessary to give the proper training is undertaken, so that 



43 

girls are never kept at processes in which they have become 
proficient, but are moved on from process to process until they 
have gained a fair knowledge of all of the fundamentals of their 
trade. 

While it should be evident that, if emphasized solely for its 
educational value, the sale of product could not in any sense 
make the school self-supporting, the question, "Why, if the school 
sells its product, is it not self-supporting?" is asked with sur- 
prising frequency. The absurdity of this question is only too 
apparent when one stops to analyze the situation. What business 
man would attempt to run a business where his entire number 
of skilled workers were employed to teach apprentices, not to 
produce; where all of his employees were learners, and, moreover, 
not selected learners, but anyone who chose to come to him; 
where he was obliged to employ all applicants for at least five 
months' trial period, and stand the waste of material and the 
expense of teaching a large number who proved unsuccessful in 
the end; where as soon as a worker became proficient in a process 
she was no longer permitted to perform it, but was required to 
learn a new one; and where the moment she became sufficiently 
skilled to be of any money value to him she was no longer retained, 
but urged to take a position with another employer? The actual 
conduct of the trade shops is of inestimable value from an educa- 
tional point of view, as the girls are confronted with real trade 
problems and hence learn how to meet them, but any attempt to 
make the school self-supporting would over-emphasize the com- 
mercial side, and would not only change its character, but would 
not be in the interest of the students. 



ECONOMIC VALUE 

From the standpoint of economy, too, the sale of product 
is an important item, since it helps materially in reducing the 
running expenses of the school. As approximately four-fifths 
of the trade school program is devoted to trade practice, it is 
apparent that a very large amount of material is used by the 



44 

classes. Whenever it is possible to teach the necessary processes 
and principles by permitting girls to make things for themselves, 
it is done, and during one entire month of the year, the girls are 
required to do so, that they may have the practice in purchasing 
materials, planning, cutting, designing, etc. 

During the past year the following number of articles have 
been made by the different trade departments: 

Dressmaking — all grades, including children's clothing, underwear, 

plain and elaborate gowns 9,415 

Electric power machine operating — all grades, including clothing and 

embroidery 9,909 

Straw machine operating — all kinds of straw hats 6,240 

Millinery — all grades, including the making of flowers and other 

trimmings, frames, hats, etc 2,698 

Pasting — including lamp shades and the making of novelty boxes. . . . 3,253 

Total 31,515 

In all of the elementary sewing grades, the girls make things 
for their own use, but as the work advances, the necessity for 
practice on expensive materials, and on complicated processes, 
makes it impossible from the standpoint of expense for the girls 
to furnish their own materials. Moreover, they could not be 
permitted to bring whatever materials they wished, nor to choose 
the kind of garments they desired to make, since they must 
conform to the specific requirements of a course, which is carefully 
planned to lead from simple to more complex processes, in order 
that a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles of the 
trade ma}' be mastered. Since, therefore, the school insists, as 
it should, upon a definite, well planned course of training, which 
requires the use of expensive materials, the responsibility of 
furnishing these, and of disposing of the finished product must 
be borne by the school, and not by the girls. 

While the educational value of the training would be less if 
it were not possible to provide expensive materials, and to make 



45 

a high grade product, the excessive cost of supplies would make 
the trade training prohibitive from the financial point of view, 
unless this cost could be offset by an income derived from sales. 
The endeavor is therefore made to cover the cost of all materials 
used in every department. In the elementary grades where girls 
have to learn first principles, and are not proficient enough to 
make marketable articles, but where the work is mainly practice, 
it is, naturally, impossible to cover the cost, but in the more 
advanced classes where work can be brought up to a market stand- 
ard, and sold at market prices, the gain above the cost of materials 
is more than sufficient to make up for this loss. 

By careful management, the school has, during the past year, 
not only covered the cost of materials used in the trade depart- 
ments, but also the cost of all supplies for non-vocational, 
art and physical training classes ; the cost of all repairs to machin- 
ery and equipment and certain repairs to building; the cost of 
equipping an annex ($1,200); and the cost of all new equipment 
needed for the school ($1,766.44). 

The income from the sales made in the different trade depart- 
ments from September, 1914, to July, 1915, is as follows: 

Credit from 

Department sales and Cost of Net gain Loss 

stock on hand materials 

Dressmaking $12,287 .94 $5,742 .69 $6,545 .25 

Millinery 559.95 645.10 $85.15 

Machine oper .. 3,650.50 2,203.79 1,446.71 

Pasting 1,157.35 516.27 641.08 



Total $17,655 .74 $9,107 .85 $8,547 .89 

As will be seen from the above, the oft-repeated objection 
that the supplies necessary to run vocational schools makes their 
cost so excessive that they cannot be developed to any extent 
under the public school system, is wholly without foundation. 
The total expense for salaries alone may possibly be somewhat 



46 

higher per capita than in the average high school, even though 
the individual salaries are much lower. This is due to the fact 
that the average number of pupils to a teacher must be small 
if good work is to be accomplished. By the economical handling 
of supplies, however, through the sale of the school's product, 
the net teaching cost per capita is reduced considerably below 
the high school cost. In fact, the cost of the trade school can be 
estimated in salaries and maintenance of building alone, as all 
other expenses are met by the sale of its product. The following 
will show how the net income from sales over and above the cost 
of all materials reduces the teaching cost: 

Total salaries $59,577 . 96 

Net income from the sales above cost of all materials $8,547 .89 

Salaries reduced by income from sales $51,030 .07 

Average attendance 608 

Teaching cost per capita $89 . 93 

Xo. of hours of instruction per year 1,484 

Per capita teaching cost per hour $ .0565 



PUKCHASE OF SUPPLIES 

The money received from the sale of product is sent monthly 
to the Auditor of the Board of Education, to be turned over to 
the Comptroller. This forms a special Trade School Fund, from 
which future supplies and equipment may be purchased for the 
school. No direct appropriation from city funds has had to be 
made for this purpose for the past three years, as the school has 
been able to earn the entire amount. 

Educational supplies for the non-vocational and other classes 
and all materials that can be purchased in large quantities for 
the general use of the school, are furnished through the Supply 
Department of the Board of Education on requisition by the 
school and are charged against this special fund. The school 
is permitted also to draw upon the fund for cash purchases to 
the extent of 8500 per month, if necessary, so that emergency 
repairs to machinery may be taken care of and materials may be 



47 



purchased for making hats, gowns or other wearing apparel for 
individual customers. An itemized account of all cash expendi- 
tures is sent to the Auditor monthly. 



VII.— EVENING SESSIONS FOR TRADE 
CONTINUATION CLASSES 

Because of the unusual facilities offered by the trade school 
with its equipment for the day classes, it has been possible to 
offer a somewhat different type of trade instruction in the evening 
sessions from that which is ordinarily found in other evening 
trade classes. 

AIM OF EVENING SESSIONS 

The aim of the evening sessions has been to supply training 
for the "next step" in trade to girls who had made a beginning, 
but were unable to advance without further training. The 
courses have varied in length according to the particular needs 
of applicants, and instruction, as in the day school, has been 
individual. 

EVENING TRADE COURSES 

The courses included: 

a. Three lines of electric power machine operating, namely, 
Straw operating. 
Embroidery operating. 
Plain garment operating. 

The straw and embroidery operating courses were open only 
to girls and women who were already machine operators, but 
whose advancement depended upon acquiring a knowledge of 
special machines. Courses in plain garment operating were 
open to those whose advancement depended upon learning to 
operate the plain electric power sewing machine, in order to secure 
positions as stitchers or garment makers. Many of those who 



48 

took the course in plain garment operating were basting pullers, 
sorters, packers or pressers in operating factories. 

b. Two special classes in dressmaking, namely. 

Drafting and pattern cutting. 
Waist and skirt draping. 

These courses were open only to girls who were employed in 
the dressmaking trade, and whose progress depended upon acquir- 
ing further skill. In these classes were a large number of girls 
who had completed the day trade school course, and who were 
occupying positions as helpers and finishers in dressmaking 
establishments. Many of them realized that they might become 
waist or skirt drapers if they could acquire a little knowledge of 
the art of draping, but this was practically impossible for them 
to secure in the shops, since there was no opportunity to experi- 
ment. 

Again, other girls who were finishers or drapers, were eager 
to become designers or fitters, but could not do so without a 
knowledge of how to cut and make patterns. Some of these 
girls realized that with this knowledge they might become inde- 
pendent dressmakers, either going out by the day or running 
their own establishments. 

c. One class in the making of 

Lamp shades and fancy novelties. 

d. One class in French edge making. 

These courses were open not only to girls who were in some 
allied line of trade, but to those whose trades were subject to 
short seasons, and who needed a supplementary trade or craft 
in order to earn a complete living. 



REGISTRATION AND ATTENDANCE 

The total registration for the evening sessions was 720. Each 
mot but two nights a week, and the average attendance 



49 

at each session (120 nights) was 123. The courses varied in 
length from 10 to 30 nights, and 256 certificates were issued to 
persons who completed one or more of the courses. 

The earnestness and enthusiasm shown was most encouraging, 
and a thoroughly business-like atmosphere pervaded the class- 
rooms, because the pupils had a definite purpose in coming. 

The experiment showed, however, that there were certain 
handicaps to be faced. The girls came from all parts of the city, 
Brooklyn and The Bronx, as well as the upper part of Man- 
hattan, and as they were all at work during the day, it was 
practically impossible for the majority of them to go home for their 
dinners and get back at seven-thirty for the class. This difficulty 
was met by having a supper served at the school, at a minimum 
cost, and about two-thirds of the girls took advantage of it. An- 
other difficulty was that of regular attendance after a hard day's 
work at trade. Most of them found this impossible, and the classes 
were divided into two sections, one group meeting Monday and 
Wednesday evenings and the other coming Tuesday and Thursday. 
Still another difficulty was that of overtime, which many of the 
girls were required to work in the busy seasons, but with two 
night sessions for the classes a good number were able to attend 
pretty regularly. 

TEACHERS FOR EVENING CLASSES 

In some of the classes the day trade school teachers were 
able to handle the work well, and the arrangement of two nights 
a week made it possible for them to do so without overworking. 
In others, where the work was distinctly more advanced than 
anything given in the day school, specialists were chosen for 
expertness in their particular line, who were employed in high 
grade establishments during the day, so that they were able to 
bring to their evening work a knowledge of the latest and most 
up-to-date methods. 



50 
VIII.— NEW EXPERIMENTS 

Three new pieces of work have been undertaken during the 
past year, namely: 

1. The opening of an annex. 

2. Trade extension classes for girls who were temporarily 
out of employment. 

3. Vocational guidance tests for girls who were seeking jobs 
without any knowledge of what they were able to do. 



THE ANNEX 

While the school has had a continuous waiting list of from 
one to three hundred girls during the past two years, there were 
so manj^ girls who applied for admission on February 1st, 1915, 
that it seemed little short of criminal to continue to refuse them 
admission. Especially was this true in a winter, when unempkty- 
ment was unusually prevalent among adult workers. While 
various committees, particularly the one appointed by the Mayor, 
were working to relieve the unemployment situation, it seemed 
most unfortunate to be turning into the labor market hundreds 
of young girl graduates, possibly to take the places of older mem- 
bers of their families, because they could be secured at lower 
wages. 

On February 1st, the Manhattan Trade School had 580 appli 
cants for admission, and oven by stretching every accommodation 
and overcrowding, it was possible to admit only about 100 of 
these. The other applicants were placed on a waiting list, but 
were urged to go to the high schools, as the majority of them were 
graduates of elementary school. Many of them felt that they 
could not afford to do this, and immediately went to work. 



51 

As the Board of Education found it impossible to act quickly 
to secure accommodations for these girls, the Henry Street Settle- 
ment came to the rescue, and rented a large loft in the Fifth 
National Bank Building, located one block from the school. 
The income from the sales was sufficient to enable the school to 
purchase machines, tables, chairs, closets, etc., necessary to equip 
the loft, so that an annex was opened on March 1st, 1915, accom- 
modating 150 girls. The classes in the annex were confined to 
elementary work, and as soon as vacancies occurred at the school, 
either because of placement or for other causes, girls from the 
annex were transferred, and new girls were admitted to the annex, 
so that it has been filled to its capacity ever since it was opened. 

TRADE EXTENSION CLASSES 

In the middle of the winter, when the conditions of unemploy- 
ment in the dressmaking trade were most acute, and hundreds 
of young girls were out of work, the school was asked to cooperate 
with the Mayor's Committee on Unemployment and the Vacation 
War Relief Work Committee, in providing trade extension classes 
for them, so that they might be able to capitalize their idle time. 
The Manhattan Trade School Board loaned the use of a large 
room in the trade school building (formerly rented to a commercial 
firm) which accommodated 100 girls; the Vacation War Relief 
Work Committee equipped the room and provided materials; 
and the Board of Education furnished the teachers. The classes 
were opened one week after the proposition was made, and 114 
girls, who had been employed in the dressmaking trade, and who 
were temporarily out of work, entered them in order to gain 
additional training. The girls were not required to remain for a 
definite period of time, as the purpose of the classes was rather 
to encourage them to use such idle time as they had to acquire 
more skill in their trade, so that they might have a better oppor- 
tunity to progress when they returned to it. Within five or six 
weeks, all of the girls were replaced in their trades, and many 
of them at better wages than they had formerly received. 



52 
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE TESTS 

As the conditions in the dressmaking trade improved toward 
spring, and there was less demand for the trade extension classes, 
the proposition was made to the trade school to help with the 
unskilled girls who were the ones most readily laid off during 
periods of business depression. In cooperation with the various 
committees who were working for the relief of unemployment, 
the rooms used for the trade extension classes was, therefore, 
turned into a vocational guidance test room, where unskilled 
girls who were out of employment were sent for two or three 
weeks, to be tested as to their ability. The girls were given 
practical tests in hand and machine sewing, in pasting and in 
electric power machine operating. They were also tested as 
to their physical condition, and as to their general school educa- 
tion. On the basis of these tests, the results of which were handed 
over to the various placement agents with whom the girls were 
registered for employment, the endeavor was made to direct 
them in their choice of an occupation, and, if possible, to place 
them in positions where such ability as they possessed would 
count to their advantage. 

79 girls came for these vocational guidance tests, and the 
results were sufficiently encouraging to make the school feel 
that such work should continue permanently during the coming- 
year. A committee has, therefore, been appointed, consisting 
of the heads of eight non-commercial employment . agencies which 
deal particularly with the placement of young girls. In coopera- 
tion with the school, these agencies have formulated a plan to 
send their young girl applicants who apply for positions to the 
school for tests before they attempt to place them. 

While the work is too new to say definitely what the results 
will be, it may be said that already 3 of the 65 girls who have 
come for the tests have decided to take a full course of training 
at the trade school before taking positions. The agents report 
that the girls' records are of great help to them in finding the 



53 

right sort of positions, and one agency reports that a manufacturer 
with whom she had placed a good many girls has already said 
that he would take any girls she sent, provided they had taken 
the tests at the Manhattan Trade School first. 

The purpose of these vocational guidance tests is, obviously, 
to guide girls, who must and will go to work at once upon leaving 
the elementary school, somewhat more wisely in their choice of 
work. The hope is that even the brief period of testing will open 
their eyes to the need of training, or, if not, will at least arouse their 
ambition and encourage them to enter upon work which offers 
them some opportunity for future advancement. 

All of these new experiments have been closely allied to the 
work of the trade school, and should be continued permanently. 
Because of the seasonal conditions in almost all good trades, and 
because there is little opportunity in trade workrooms to transfer 
from the less skilled to the more skilled occupations, there is a 
crying need for the establishment of supplementary trade extension 
classes arranged so that girls may continue their training during 
the dull seasons in their trades. 



IX— RECOMMENDATIONS 

The following matters are respectfully referred to the Board 
of Education for immediate attention: 

First — That strenuous effort be made to have the new building ready 
for occupancy at the earliest possible moment. Under the present con- 
ditions the progress of the trade school is being steadily impaired, since 
it is impossible, with continuous overcrowding, not only to do the present 
work efficiently, but also to undertake new lines of activity until better 
accommodations are provided. 

Second — That pending the completion of the new building, arrange- 
ments be made to provide adequate additional space for at least three 
hundred girls, to take care of the present waiting list; that this space 
be secured in close proximity to the present trade school building, so that 



54 

the elementary divisions of the trade classes may be carried on outside 
the present building under business-like conditions. 

If possible, lofts in business buildings should be secured for 
this work, as the girls who come to the trade school are entirely 
those who have completed their elementary school training, 
and are read}'- to go to work. It is neither advisable nor possible 
to retain these girls in school if they have to go to public school 
buildings with elementary school children and use classrooms 
that are not properly equipped for trade work. The only way 
to prevent such girls from going to work without proper training 
is by making them feel the desirability of what the trade school 
can do for them toward getting them ready for trade immediately, 
and as no trade atmosphere can be secured by holding classes in 
elementary school buildings, the attempt to provide such space 
would be almost worthless. 

Third— As the Henry Street Settlement will cease to pay the rent 
for the annex maintained in the Fifth National Bank Building, on August 
1st, provision should be made by the Board of Education to continue 
such rental until permanent quarters can be found for the girls. Other- 
wise, it will mean the eviction of 150 girls now in attendance at the annex 

Fourth — (a) That the Board of Education take under consideration 
the advisability of continuing the work of the trade school through the 
month of August, and arrange that the teachers' vacations be taken from 
six weeks to two months at different periods during the year, when it can 
best be arranged with reference to their particular trade. 



The school has found it to be a considerable drawback to be 
entirely closed during August, as certain of the machine operating 
and millinery trades begin their busy seasons at that time, and 
the opportunity to place the girls who have prepared for these 
trades is lost. 

(b) That the Board of Education consider also the advisability of 
permitting the summer sessions during the month of July 
and August to be shorter than the sessions of the remainder 
of the year, namely, from 9 until 1. 



55 

It has been found unprofitable to keep the girls too steadily 
confined during the hot weather, especially after a hard winter's 
work, and it is firmly believed, both by the teachers and principal 
of the trade school, that better work could be done during the 
summer months if the daily sessions were shorter. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Florence M. Marshall, 

Principal, 
Manhattan Trade School for Girls. 



56 

VOCATIONAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS 

New York, August 5, 1915. 

Dr. William H. Maxwell, 

City Superintendent of Schools, 
500 Park Ave., N. Y. 

Dear Sir: 

I have the honor to submit herewith a report on the work 
of The Vocational School for Boys for the school year September, 
1914 to July, 1915. 

STATISTICS 

The average daily attendance for the year was 662, an increase 
of approximately 20 per cent, over last year's attendance. The 
register on July 31, 1915, was 830, an increase of almost 27 per cent 
over the register of July 31, 1914. During the year 1,274 different 
pupils received instruction. 

A comparison of the preliminary training received by the boys 
who were admitted to the school during this year with that re- 
ceived by the admissions of last year is very interesting. 

1914 1915 

Per cent. Per cent. 

Admitted from 6B grade 25 

Admitted from 7A grade 10 16 

Admitted from 7B grade 6 8 

Admitted from 8A grade 3 6 

Admitted from 8B grade (graduates) 43 44 

Admitted from high school 11 14 

Admitted from work 12 

(Fractions omitted.) 

No pupil applied from the 6B grade because of the change in 
the academic requirements for work certificates, which became 
operative last October. 



57 

A significant feature of this classification is the number of 
boys who came to school from "work." In every case, these 
were lads who had left elementary or high school to go to work, 
and who found that their lack of definite training was too severe 
a handicap. 

The diploma of the school is now awarded to the pupils under 
the following conditions: 

1. Completion of the work of the school. 

2. Satisfactory record of service in the business world for a 
period of six months, such service to be certified to by employers. 

The object of this scheme is to secure closer correlation of 
the school with the industrial words. It insures the cooperation 
of employers, and compels, on the part of the pupils, a realization 
of the practical aim of the school. 

On this basis, fifty-two (52) boys received the school diploma 
during the past term, a record of which we are very proud. It 
means, in effect, that about fifty employers have set the stamp 
of their approval on the training that the boys received in The 
Vocational School for Boys. 

During the year, 535 pupils left school without finishing the 
course. The reasons for their withdrawal follow: 



REASONS FOR WITHDRAWAL 

Returned to academic schools 60 

Attending other trade or commercial schools 7 

Kept at home 18 

Removal from city 27 

At work 404 

Lost 18 

Dead 1 

Total 535 



58 

This record reflects the general business depression of the year. 
The large number (404) who were obliged to go to work speaks 
eloquently of the press of economic necessity. As an offset to 
this, however, it is gratifying to note that, even at the expense 
of hardship at home, many parents have kept their boys in school 
to finish the course. Never before have we been able to show such 
a large per cent of our boys doing advanced work in the school. 

The distribution of the pupils now on register is shown by the 
following table: 

30 per cent, have attended The Vocational School for Boys 6 months or 

less. 
34 per cent, have attended The Vocational School for Boys more than 

6 months and less than 12 months. 

14 per cent, have attended The Vocational School for Boys more than 
12 months and less than 18 months. 

15 per cent, have attended The Vocational School for Boys more than 
18 months and less than 24 months. 

7 per cent, have attended The Vocational School for Boys more than 
24 months. 

The boys in this last group have completed the regular work 
of the school and are now doing what might be called post-graduate 
work. 

FOLLOW-UP REPORTS 

Our pupils continue to make good in the business world. 
Employers express their satisfaction with the work of the boys 
who have come from The Vocational School for Boys and have 
not hesitated to make definite statements to this effect. This 
matter has been referred to already in connection with the scheme 
for awarding the school diploma. 

I refrain from presenting details because of the limitations 
of this report. I am preparing, however, a statement showing 
the history of every one of our former pupils whom we have been 
able to reach. This will be presented at a later date. 



59 



NEW AUTO-MACHINE SHOP 



The new auto-machine shop has been completed. The entire 
building, from the foundation to the roof, was erected by the boys. 
The building is modern and up-to-date in its equipment. We 
feel proud of our achievement, representing, as it does, the first 
attempt ever made by the City of New York in this field of en- 
deavor. The workmanship has been the source of unstinted 
praise by those who are competent to judge, and the opinion has 
been freely expressed that the boys have accomplished wonders. 
I know of no similar project having been undertaken by school 
boys in any other city in the United States. 

PHYSICAL TRAINING 

During the year there has been introduced a scheme of physical 
training of which much is expected. In general, this provides for 

1. General "setting-up" exercises. 

2. Special corrective exercises. 

3. Free play and recreative work. 

4. Organized games and sports. 

Although this department is new, yet the beneficial effects 
are very noticeable. Every boy upon entering the school is 
given a physical examination, and the observations are charted 
on the progressive record card. From time to time, these exami- 
nations are repeated and results are noted, thus furnishing data 
which is extremely valuable in determining the character and 
scope of the work assigned to the pupils. I confidently look 
forward to making a very definite and valuable contribution 
to the general scheme of vocational training through the agency 
of this department. 

In this connection it is worth noting that practically all of 
this work in physical training has been done out-of-doors. This, 
I believe, is something of an innovation. To make this scheme 



60 

possible, we obtained permission to utilize the vacant plot to 
the east of our building. The plot in question has been a neigh- 
borhood eye-sore for years. Our boys cleaned it up and removed 
some large boulders. They then graded the site and converted 
it into a very desirable playground. Here we have conducted 
field sports, including running events, jumping, shot-putting, etc., 
also baseball games. All the boys of the school have been required 
to participate in these physical training activities as an integral 
part of their training to which two hours or more each week have 
been devoted. 

Local community leaders have commended our work in this 
department, not only because of the direct benefit to our own 
boys, but also because of the influence it has exerted on the young- 
folk of the neighborhood. Our efforts have furnished a com- 
munity playground which has been utilized by the boys and the 
young men of the district when we are not using it. 

EVENING SESSIONS 

This school is practically demonstrating the possibilities of 
the complete utilization of a school plant. The school is in 
practically continuous session from 8:30 A. M. to 10:00 P. M., 
from September to June, and from 8:30 A. M. to 5:30 P. M., 
during June and July. 

The evening sessions are planned for boys and men at work in 
the trades who cannot attend in the day time. 



GRADUATES CONTINUATION WORK 

In this connection, I have organized a department in the 
evening school for graduates of our day-school courses who have 
gone to work. These young men are given instruction that is 
definitely related to the trade work they are engaged in, and which 
is designed to furnish real and individual continuation practice. 



61 

The instructors in charge of this course are the men with whom- 
the graduates studied and worked while they were attending 
the day school. Manifestly there is a reciprocal benefit in such 
an arrangement. The teachers know the boys and have their 
confidence, while the boys themselves are benefited by hearing 
of the difficulties and problems which have been confronted 
outside the school. It serves to emphasize the elements of strength 
and weakness in the instruction which is being given to the boys 
of the day school. I consider this one of the most important 
new ventures that we have undertaken. 

SCHOOL LUNCH ROOM 

The Board of Education has authorized the installation of 
a cooperative lunch room in The Vocational School for Boys 
to be conducted by the school in connection with The New York 
School Lunch Committee. This will be introduced next Sep- 
tember, and will enable us to train the boys to select proper and 
adequate food. It will do much to correct the faulty habits of 
eating which constitute a real menace to men and boys engaged 
in trade work. 

COOPERATIVE EFFORTS WITH OUTSIDE AGENCIES 

1. The action of employers who, by approving and commend- 
ing our graduates, have endorsed the work of the school, has 
opened up a splendid field for direct and profitable cooperation. 

2. The social betterment effects of our physical training- 
activities in their relation to the local community have been 
noted already. 

3. The school lunch room to be introduced in September 
in connection with the New York School Lunch Committee has 
also been commented on. 

4. During the year several lectures were given by Dr. William 
Tolman, the director of the American Museum of Safety, as the 



62 

result of establishing cooperative relations with this museum. 
These were valuable and suggestive talks which are sure to produce 
desirable results. 

5. The Association of Employers in the Sheet Metal and 
Cornice Making industry rendered a very practical service through 
their splendid support. A committee from this association 
visited the school several times 'and encouraged the boys by their 
timely and pertinent suggestions. They have offered to award 
prizes to the pupils showing the greatest improvement during 
the year. 

6. The construction of the new auto-machine shop was 
rendered possible in great, part by the action of the Department 
of Bridges of the City of New York. This department loaned 
us the equipment which we lacked for this undertaking. Without 
these things we would have been badly handicapped. 

7. The Police Department of the City also entered the co- 
operative field with us. As a result, Ave were enabled to make 
and place in the streets leading to schools throughout the City 
traffic signs warning drivers to drive slowly while passing through 
such streets. Five hundred signs of this kind were made by us 
and placed in position during the year. 

COOPERATIVE EFFORTS WITH SCHOOL AUTHORITIES 

1. Superintendent Jones, of the Department of Supplies of 
the Board of Education, has continued to cooperate with The 
Vocational School for Boys to an even greater extent than ever 
before. His support of our efforts has made it possible to give 
practical commercial work in almost every department of the 
school. 

2. My recommendation of last year to the effect it would 
be advisable to have our boys work in cooperation with Super- 
intendent Snyder and the Building Department of the Board 

of Education lias borne fruit. 



63 

Superintendent Snyder's office and the Committee on Buildings 
of the Board of Education have been of great assistance to us, 
particularly in building our new shop. In this connection, I 
desire to speak especially of Commissioner Ernest F. Eilert, 
whose warm personal support made this project possible. 

Another contract which was undertaken by The Vocational 
School for Boys was the erection of a "model flat" in Public 
School No. 7, Manhattan. This work was so well done that 
visitors were loud in their praises of the work of the boys. We 
have been asked to do a similar job in P. S. 65, Manhattan; this 
is a tribute to the efficiency of the boys' work. 

The extent of the cooperation of these two departments, i. e., 
the Department of Supplies and the Building Department, is 
shown by the following recapitulation: 

1. Amount of supplies furnished on requisitions during 

the school year 1914-15 $6,745 .55 

2. Value of finished products and of work completed by 

the pupils during the school year 1914-15 $20,185 .90 

RECOMMENDATIONS 

It is a source of gratification to be able to record that all but 
one of the recommendations made in my last annual report have 
been acted on favorably. The matter of salaries paid to trade 
teachers, however, has not yet been adjusted. I trust that these 
men will soon be paid a salary commensurate with the value of 
their services. Five dollars a day for about two hundred daj^s 
per year does not equal the earnings of a good mechanic of the 
type we require for teachers. It is not even the "prevailing wage" 
in most skilled trades. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Chas. J. Pickett, 

Principal, Vocational School for Boys. 



64 



MURRAY HILL VOCATIONAL SCHOOL 

August 2, 1915. 
Mr. William H. Maxwell, 

City Superintendent of Schools. 

Dear Sir: 

As principal of the Murray Hill Vocational School, I submit 
the following report for the school year ending July 30, 1915. 

DESCRIPTION OF SCHOOL 

The purpose of the school, the trade and the academic subjects 
taught, and the function of public education were discussed in the 
"Sixteenth Annual Report of the City Superintendent of Schools, 
1913-1914," special pamphlet. The rules governing admission 
of pupils, the types of pupils instructed, type of work done, 
standards for trade work, and the class of trade and of academic 
teachers employed will also be found in said report. 

So strongly am I impressed with the importance of the recom- 
mendations there made that I repeat them here. 

RECOMMENDATIONS 

1. Increased equipment (improvements in present building), 
including an annex, to permit of further instruction in courses 
already organized and to allow for the introduction of new courses. 

2. Changes in the methods of licensing trade teachers so as 
to obtain men of required experience, ability, and character. 

3. Organization of courses for the training of teachers so 
that those already in the service may be instructed in the proper 
method of classroom procedure. 



65 

4. Changes in the by-laws which will permit the trade teachers 
to obtain additional practical trade experience while in the service 
of the Department of Education. 

5. A new building which will permit the installation of 
machinery. 

6. A library fund to enable the principal to establish a tech- 
nical library for the use of pupils. 

7. An emergency fund to purchase materials required imme- 
diately. 

8. Changes in the hours of attendance of pupils to permit 
the introduction of social activities. 

To these recommendations I wish to add the following: 
Changes in the hours of attendance of pupils, to permit the full 
course of study to be put into operation during the month of July. 

ACADEMIC WORK SHOULD BE EXTENDED 

At present no academic work is done during the month of 
July. This necessitates dividing the school into two separate 
organizations, each of which receives one-half day's instruction 
in trade work. I suggest that the academic teachers be 
retained during the month of July, and that they receive addi- 
tional compensation for this extra work. The hours of attendance 
for pupils during the year, except July, should be from 9 to 4, 
for teachers from 9 to 5. During July, the present hours should 
be retained. The recommendations to the City Superintendent 
given on pages 43 and 44 in the last annual report of this school 
could then be put into practice. 

PRESENT BUILDINGS INADEQUATE 

With regard to recommendation No. 1, dealing with the 
erection of an annex to this building, I beg to inform you that 
the matter was acted upon favorably by the Board of Super- 



66 



intendents and the Board of Education, and is now pending 
before the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. Up to date 
no action has been taken by that body: Plate No. 1 shows 
the present condition of grounds and the wastefulness of the 
present installation. 



S T R C. E.T 




37 +t <. ' STREET 

PRESENT- CONDITION -OF- GROUNDS -AND- BU I LDING 



SHADED PORTIONS-NOWIN USE ■ 

Approximate area in use for instruction EZ2 49%__ 16,4-00 Sq.ft. 

Approximate area in use for recreation E13 30%-_ 9,920 Sq.Ft. 

Total area in use 79%.- 26,320 Sq.Ft. 

Total area not in use 21 %-. 6,970 S.q.Ft. 

Maximum registration 270 



Total area 
h of Plot, 
33.Z90 5Q.Ft. 



Plate 1. 



67 



PROPOSED BUILDING CHANGES 

Plates 2, 3 and 4 show the proposed changes to property, the 
efficiency which will result therefrom, and such additional data 
as will make clear the reasons for these recommendations. I 
suggest a careful study of these plans and photographs. 



STREET 




37 Th. STREET 

♦ PLAN -OF -PROPOSED : CHANGES - 

B2S INDICATES NEW BUILDINGS - ^RECONSTRUCTED - DOTTED LINES SHOW BU1LD1NQS REMOVED. 

Total area available for instruction Bsa Ezacsa— 67%.. 22,4-50 Sa. Ft. \Total area, loo%„ 

Total area available for recreations 33%. .10,840 Sa.Ft.J33 ; 290 5a.Ft. 

Total area non-available None. 

$56,500 FOR BUILDING. AND EQUIPMENT WILL MAKE AVAILABLE FOR INSTRUCTION AND 
RECREATION THIS ENTIRE PLOT AND INCREASE REGISTRATION 'FROM 270 TO 700. 

Rectuest {or One Story Building was submitted to Board" of Superintendents^ June 6 , 1914. 

Passed by Board of Superintendents June II, 1914. 

Construction recommended by Board of Education Nov. 25,1914. 

Recuiest for Corporate StocK received by Board of Estimate-First meeting fli-Jan. 1915. 

Kq action taken by board of estimate to date 

Plate 2. 




BUILDING USED FOR ACADEMIC WORK, 37th STREET 



^££. 



i 



I ^nrw — r 

Dti Ell EM, Oil 




72 
WORK ACCOMPLISHED 

The greater part of the work done this year has been the 
development of the subject matter of instruction and the correla- 
tion of our trade subjects with the requirements of industry. 
Hampered though we have been through lack of provision for 
this school, no money having been allowed by the Board of Esti- 
mate for either equipment or necessary building changes, the 
work done by the instructors of the school has been highly 
satisfactory. 

At present there exists among some persons who claim expert 
knowledge of vocational work a great desire to conduct instruction 
so as to make the work of schools of this type largely self-support- 
ing. They attain this object by having pupils do not only work 
of a commercial value for which a ready market may be found, 
but also work coming under the head of building repairs. 



COURSES NOT FOR MAINTENANCE ONLY 

No one is more interested in the purely practical work of a 
vocational school student and appreciates its value more than the 
writer of this report. However, he realizes only too well, as a 
result of many years of experience, that any system of education 
which depends for its development on the so-called maintenance 
idea will result in failure. The practical work producing a salable 
product must be the result of a course of study carefully thought 
out. It should start with the simplest type of work, progress 
gradually to the higher forms, skipping no intermediate steps, 
and ultimately arrive at the stage where the student is capable 
both mentally and physically of producing a product having a 
commercial value. In other words, it must not be a purely 
maintenance scheme, but should bear the same relation to the 
regular work of the school that the hospital service of the young 
physician bears to his college work. Now this is the very thing 
that is done in this school. 



73 

INDUSTRIAL WORK DONE 

During the past year the Wood Working Department 
kept its advanced pupils busy making office furniture. The 
Printing Department supplied a complete system of records for 
the Murray Hill Vocational School and the Brooklyn Vocational 
School. The Plumbing Department made necessary repairs 
to the building and installations, subject to the approval of the 
Superintendent of School Buildings. The Sign Painting Depart- 
ment furnished signs for the summer schools, and cooperated 
with the various departments of this school. The Electric Wiring 
Department is now busily engaged in installing an electric 
lighting system in a three-story annex to this school. However, 
this work is done only by the pupils who have by systematic, 
progressive instruction reached that stage of development where 
they actually can do the work and profit by their experience. 
In this connection I can do no better than repeat the warning 
I sounded in my last annual report, pages 35-36. 



TYPE OF WORK DONE 

"The work done by the pupils of this school possesses a commercial 
value. This type of work is insisted upon not only because of the practical 
experience gained thereby, but also because of its educational value. Indeed, 
the type of trade teacher that we have in this school would not be content 
with the old-fashioned notion of a series of exercises. Every problem presents 
a definite practical undertaking. In addition, pupils do repair and other 
work required by the school, but this work must be within the capacity of 
the pupil. A boy who has spent six weeks in a shop cannot be expected to 
do the work of a journeyman mechanic. In Appendix A is a list of practical 
work done for the Department of Education and for a neighboring social 
organization showing the character and the commercial value of the products. 
As the pupils acquire more experience, the class of work they will be able 
to do will be of a higher grade. Indeed, we are very anxious to cooperate 
not only with the Board of Education but with any other city department 
that has work to be done and for which we have the equipment, provided 
the work be of such a character as to permit of a variety of manipulation, 
or else be so limited in quantity as to give the students an opportunity to do 
other work. There is no objection to students doing this work. There is 



74 

very serious objection to students doing work of a kind that will have a tend- 
ency to make them machines — the very thing which the industrial educational 
movement is intended to correct." 



DANGER OF EXPLOITATION 

Unless this suggestion is heeded we will find ourselves unwit- 
tingly exploiting the very children whom we are supposed through 
our system of vocational education to protect from the exploitation 
of a heartless industrial system. 



DEPARTMENTAL COOPERATION 

In connection with this form of cooperative work I can see 
no reason why. if the work be governed by the regulations sug- 
gested, the work of vocational schools cannot be utilized by 
departments other than the Department of Education. I believe 
the time is passed when a young man must be committed to an 
institution of correction before his constructive ability may receive 
proper recognition from the constituted authorities. If prison fur- 
niture is acceptable to the city authorities, why not the furniture 
made by our own boys who have not succumbed to pernicious 
influences? The same is true of other work. This entire matter 
was discussed by me in a report to the Superintendent in charge 
of Vocational Education. 



EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN NEEDED ' 

The experience of the past year has clearly shown that the 
purpose of the vocational schools in the City of New York does 
not seem clear to the parents nor to the teachers and principals. 
It is astonishing how many teachers and principals still believe 
that the vocational schools are places for the mentally deficient. 
If there is a sufficiently Large number of mentally deficient pupils 
who might profit by trade instruction of a certain type, then a 
separate school for this class should be established. 



75 

The purpose of the vocational schools is to train young men 
to meet the strenuous conditions of modern industrial com- 
petition. 

LECTURES ON INDUSTRIAL SUBJECTS 

During the year the school has done work of practical value. 
It has also availed itself of the opportunity of the services 
of people connected with various industrial undertakings. Stu- 
dents were given the opportunity to attend illustrated lectures, 
the lecturers being men prominent in their special fields of work. 
A number of loan exhibits of interest to the various departments 
have been obtained. Indeed, every endeavor has been made 
to give the students the advantages not only of the expert knowl- 
edge of their instructors, but also of the experience of any person 
who could be induced to lend assistance. I am glad to say 
that in every case we have met with very cordial cooperation. 
We have also had the cooperation of the St. Gabriel's Park Branch 
of the New York Public Library. The fact remains, however, 
that the work of this school is very seriously hampered because 
of its inadequate equipment. There seems to be no excuse for 
this. The photographs show the condition of this school. 
Centrally located, with all the conveniences of transporta- 
tion at its doors, it could be made an excellent institution. 
Why this condition should have been permitted to exist 
for the past year and a half despite the strenuous efforts of the 
Department of Education to remedy it, is a mystery too deep 
for the principal of this school to solve. 



STATISTICS 

In Plates 5, 6, 7, and 8, statistics are given relating to the 
course of study, trade subjects taught, registration, attendance, 
and discharges. The work done by the students is shown below. 
These statistics are well worth consideration. 



76 



COURSE Or STUDY rOR TWO YEARS (TOURTERMSi 


SUBJECT 


HOUBS PErB WEEK 


TOTAL 
HOURS 


ti&st 

TEQ^ 


!>K0A(D 

TEfc/A 


THIRD 

TtWA 


FOURTH 
TBQM 


English 


3 


3 


3 


4- 


13 


Draw'ina,, Mechanical and Freehand 


4 


4- 


A 


4 


16 


Trade Mathematics 


a 


2 


3 


3 


IO 


History and Civics 


2 


2 


- 


- 


Ar 


Industrial Geography 


2 


- 


- 


- 


2 


Applied Science- 


— 


2 


3 


2 


7" 


Physical Training and Hygiene 


1 


1 


1 


1 


4- 


Assemloly-'Musio 


1 


\ 


1 


1 


4- 


Study: Z hours assigned to English 












2 - u Mathematics 












1 hour ■ - use of the. Library 


5 


5 


5 


B 


20 


Total hours Academic work per- week 


20 


a* 


26 


20 




Trade, 


15 


15 


15 


15 




Total hours of work pe.r week. 


35 


35 


35 


35 





COAAPABATIV& CKAkJ 

SHOWING 

PBOPOKTIOMOPTI^C 

DEiVOTEiD TO 

TRADE: AND ACADEMIC 
SUBJECTS 




Plate 5. 



77 
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION CITY OF NEW YORK 

MURRAY HILL VOCATIONAL SCHOOL 



TRADE SUBJECTS 



I. WOOD WORK 

II. METAL WORK 

III. ELECTRICAL WORK 



IV. DRAUGHTING 



V. ADVERTISING 



VI. PRINTING 



1. Joinery 

2. Cabinet Making and Finishing 

3. House Carpentry 

1. Plumbing and Gas Fitting 

1. Electric Wiring and Install atio n 

2. Instrument Making 

3. Electric Signs 

4. Electro-Plating 

1. Mechanical Drawing 

a. Freehand Sketching (working 

drawings) 

b. Finished Working Drawings 

c. Elementary Perspective 

2. Architectural Drawing 

3. Making and Reading Blue Prints 

1. Sign Painting 

2. Display and Show Cards 

1. Composition 

2. Imposition 

3. Press Work 

4. Proof Reading 

Plate 6. 



REGISTRATION BY BOROUGHS 

SCHOOL YEAR 1914-1915 



BO&0U6/A 


AIUM&EG. OP- 
PUPILS 
KE6l5TEBErD 


PERCENT. OF 

TOTAL 
BE6ISTBATIO/S 


M£<NHAXTA.Al 

&RO/SX. 

&ROOKLXAI 

ClCMAAO/ND 


3\e 

2.5 
II2 * 
A2. 


63.2% 

5.0 - 

22.4 ■• 

8.4 " 

I.O - 


TOTAL 


soo 


IOO.O% 



/NOTE" '.—The registration from "the 
Borough of /Manhattan wasdistrib- 
utsd aa follows: 

South of I4th ST. — 1 77 

141*1 ST. to 59Th ST — 65 

74 




Plate 7. 



79 



AVECAGE DAILY REGISTER 
A/ND ATTEMPA/NCE: BY CLASSED 

SCHOOL YEAR I9UM915 



TGADEr 



REGISTER, ATTEflDAflCE 



RfceiSTErE 



PUPILS 



&CG1STH2 R£6ISTK 



peacexTi 
or- 

TOTAL. 
5CH00L 



ATTE/HPA/HCE: 



or- 

PUPILS 



P*«C6rtT 

TOTAL 
SCHOOL 
UTT 



S^«6BTK 



pceartT 

OP- 

CLAS& 



MEOWtlOLDEAWIttG 
PLLVAE>W3 
ELECTRIC WIRING 
WOOD WORK 
SI6AJ PAWl/NG 
PBWTl/iG 



tun 



34 
27 
67 
I 5 
I 8 
30 



I 6.0 
I 2.8 
4 1.5 
7.1 
85 
I 4.1 



30 
23 
77 
I 2 
I 5 
Z5 



16.5 

12.6 

42.3 

6.6 

82 



e© 

85 
69 
80 
63 
83 



AVERAGE? POC SCHOOL 



2.1 I 



182 



T0TALAVECA6E DAI LY 


BE6iSTEC&ATTtrtPA«Ce 


BY MOMTMS 


1914-15 


BKISTCfc 


ATTWAflff 


PEBCC/iT 
ATTENDANCE 


SKTEMBtG. 


1 7 Z 


1 1 7 


6 8.0 


OCTOBER 


1 64 


1 3 1 


79.8 


NOVEMBER 


I 6 3 


1 4 1 


86.5 


DECC/^Bta 


1 55 


J 38 


89.0 


JANUARY 


1 5 8 


1 40 


68.6 


rCBRUARY 


2 64 


242 


9 1.6 


MAECtt 


2 7 


24 7 


9 1.4 


APBIL 


2 59 


2 1 8 


84. 1 


MAY 


2 42 


Z 1 1 


87. 1 


jurst 


2 1 6 


1 9 7 


9 1.2 


JULY 


2 3 7 


1 96 


82.7 


AVPAILYfOC 
SCHOOL YeAR 


ZOO 


I SO 


86.1 



MUMBEG Or 


PUPILS D1SC/AAC16ED 


SCHOOL YCAR. 1914-1915 


R,ErASO/NS FOB DISCHARGE 


NUMBER 


GONEr TO WOKK 


94 


TEA/iS.TO OTHER. VOCATIONAL SCHOOL 


67 


OVErB SIXTErE^ 


66 


TBA/WfcBBED TO ELEMENTARY SCttOOl 


18 


■' HIGH SCHOOL 


1 1 


R£MOVE:D f'Ba'A CITY 


4 


TEr/S DAYS OM TQAMSJ°£R. 


3 


SE/fT TO TBUA/1T 5CA0OL5 Oft RC1V INStt 


2 


DISAPPEARED 


2 


TOTAL 


267 



Plate 8. 



80 



WORK DONE BY DEPARTMENTS 
SUMMARY 

Department of Woodwork $532 .97 

Department of Plumbing 138 . 67 

Department of Printing 317 .68 

Department of Sign Painting 198 .00 

Department of Electric Wiring 1,129 .00 

Grand Total $2,316 .32 

The estimated value equals the cost of labor plus the cost of materials. 

Respectfully submitted, 



George J. Loewy, 
Principal, Murray Hill Vocational School. 



81 



BROOKLYN VOCATIONAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS 

August 2, 1915. 

Me. William H. Maxwell, 

City Superintendent of Schools. 

Dear Sir: 

As principal of the Brooklyn Vocational School for Boys I 
submit the following report covering the period from the opening 
of this school, June 21, 1915, to the close of the school year, 
July 30, 1915. 

LOCATION OF SCHOOL 

The Brooklyn Vocational School for Boys is the first vocational 
school to be opened in the Borough of Brooklyn. The location 
chosen by the Board of Superintendents for this school is the 
Cary Building, situated at Nassau and Jay Streets, Manhattan 
Bridge Plaza, Brooklyn. The school is located on the 7th floor 
in the building, and has an approximate floor area of 13,000 square 
feet. When the lease had been concluded the Board of Super- 
tendents saw fit to recommend that the Principal of the Murray 
Hill Vocational School be assigned to plan, equip, and organize 
a vocational school for boys on this leased property. The situation 
presented some very interesting problems. It was the first 
instance in which it was desired to place a complete school on 
one floor, and to do that with a limited amount of money. Loft 
buildings, as a rule, are not adapted to school purposes. The 
problems connected with the planning and equipment of this 
school have been of great interest. These problems have been 
solved in a way that should prove of value to those who desire 
to follow the trend of modern industrial school equipment. 



82 
EQUIPMENT OF SHOPS 

The work of planning was begun during the summer of 1914. 
Hardly had this work been started, when it was brought to a 
sudden stop. With the consent of the President of the Board 
of Education, the Associate Superintendent in charge of Vocational 
Education assigned the writer to undertake the solution of a 
totally different problem. It had been the desire of the Mayor 
to increase the opportunities of the pupils of the grammar schools 
by permitting them to choose studies that would prepare them 
for entrance into industrial pursuits. I was therefore assigned 
to suggest the structural changes, and to plan, equip, and organize 
63 shops, in which trade instruction for boys and girls could be 
carried on. In order that this problem be solved with the least 
expense, it was necessary to devise a system of standard equip- 
ments. This work was started in August, and the shops were 
completed and in operation in the fall of the year. The schools 
in which this work was undertaken are P. S. 64 and 95 Man- 
hattan, 5 and 158 Brooklyn, and 85 Queens. They are now known 
as pre-vocational schools. 

No sooner had this work been completed than I was assigned 
to plan the structural changes and specify the equipment for the 
Hawthorne School, Hawthorne, New York. This work was 
done at the special request of the President of the Board of Edu- 
cation. This undertaking having been finished, it became possible 
for me to resume the work connected with the Brooklyn Vocational 
School. 

ORGANIZATION OF SCHOOL 

The specifications for the equipment of the Brooklyn Voca- 
tional School were finished by the end of December, and the final 
plan for the structural changes by the beginning of January. 
The school was opened for instruction on June 21st. While the 
equipment was being installed I found it advisable to organize 
the Brooklyn Vocational School in the Murray Hill Vocational 



83 

School building. In this way no time was lost to pupils living 
in Brooklyn who desired to register for the Brooklyn Vocational 
School. On the opening day, 58 pupils of the Brooklyn Voca- 
tional School were transfered from the Murray Hill Vocational 
School. 

SHOPS AND CLASSROOMS 

Plate No. 1 shows the arrangement of classrooms for trade 
and academic work and the location of machines, tools, appara- 
tus, and furniture in the various rooms. Photographs shown 
on the following pages give comprehensive views of the location 
of classrooms and their equipments. 



84 





i 



93 



COURSE OF STUDY 



The work of this school is similar to that of the Murray Hill 
Vocational School. Consult Plate No. 2 for the course of study. 
The trade subjects taught in this school are outlined in Plate No. 3. 



COURSE OF- STUDY f OR TWO YEARS (FOURTEC 


\\K% 


SUBJECT 


HOUQ3 PCB WEEK 


TOTPL 

HOURS 


PlfcST 
TBrOM 


5KD/SD 
TERM 


THIRD 
TERM 


FOUBTH 
TER,rA 


E'ngli&h 


SI 


£ 


3 


4 


13 


Drawing. Mechanical'and Freehand 


4 


4 


4 


A 


\S 


Trade /Aathemati cs 


e 


2 


3 


3 


IO 


History and Civics 


2 


£ 


— 


- 


4 


Industrial Geography 


2 


- 


- 


— 


2 


Applied Science. 


— 


2 


3 


2 


7* 


Physical Training and h\ya\&n& 


1 


1 


1 


\ 


A 


Assembly *-N\usic 


1 


t 


1 


1 


4 


Study'. 2. hoursasslgned to Ernal'ish 












2. ■• » Ma-themaiics, 












1 hour » " use of Library 


5 


5 


5 


5 


26 


Total hours Academic work perweek 
Trade 


SO 

15 


20 

15 


20 
15 


26 
13 




Total hours of work per week 


35 


35 


35 


35 





CO/ADAQATIVfr CHAQX 

SKOWI^HQ 

P&OPOCTlCyiOPTI/At 

DEVOTED TO 

TBADC AMD ACADEMIC 

SUBJECTS 




Plate 2. 



94 



DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION CITY OF NEW YORK 

BROOKLYN VOCATIONAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS 



I. WOOD WORK 



II. METAL WORK 



III. ELECTRICAL WORK 



IV. DRAUGHTING 



V. GARMENT DESIGN 



VI. PRINTING 



TRADE SUBJECTS 



1. Joinery 

2. Cabinet Making and Finishing 

3. House Carpentry 

1. Machine Shop Practice 

2. Tool and Die Making 

3. Sheet Metal Work 

1. Electric Wiring and Installation 

2. Instrument Making 

3. Electric Signs 

4. Electro-Plating 

1. Mechanical Drawing 

a. Freehand Sketching (working 

drawings) 
1). Finished Working Drawings 
c. Elementary Perspective 

2. Architectural Drawing 

3. Making and Reading Blue Prints 

1. Cutting 

2. Designing 

1. Composition 

2. Imposition 

3. Proof Reading 

4. Press Work 

Plate 3. 



95 

This institution has long been needed in Brooklyn. This is 
proved by the number of pupils who applied for admission. Very 
many, however, prefer to enter in September. I anticipate that 
at that time not only will the school be filled, but a large waiting 
list will have to be created. 

Although the great advantages of this school are its compact- 
ness, its lack of waste space, and its ease of administration, yet 
it has the great disadvantage of not being able to grow in its 
present home. 

IMPROVEMENTS SUGGESTED 

The building being under the control of a private party, 
certain desirable changes have not been possible because of 
objection by the owner of the building. Thus, one stairway 
which the Department of Education was willing to guard properly 
is useless because the owner refuses to permit guards to be installed. 
Again, limited space makes it impossible for our pupils to receive 
proper recreation. Furthermore, students cannot eat their lunch 
in proper surroundings. I recommend, therefore, that efforts 
be made to obtain the use of the roof, part to be used for a lunch 
room, the remainder for a playground. 



INCREASED FACILITIES 

If it is desired to increase the facilities of this school, two 
ways are available: (1) Induce the owner to rent to the Depart- 
ment of Education one or more additional floors in said building. 
(2) Transfer the academic work from its present place to 
the Manual Training High School Annex in Brooklyn, situated 
at Flatbush Avenue Extension and Johnson Street, and turn the 
present academic rooms into additional shops. Room for the 
high school students might be found elsewhere in more commodious 
and more appropriate surroundings. 



96 

NECESSITY FOE A SEPARATE BUILDING 

It is my opinion, however, that this type of organization, 
novel though it is, is but a makeshift. The time has come to 
consider vocational instruction from a more serious standpoint. 
I am convinced that not only are the people of Brooklyn interested 
in this type of work, but that their boys are taking advantage 
of the instruction offered. This is proved by the number of 
students who in the past were willing to travel daily to Manhattan 
to obtain their instruction. I, therefore, recommend that a separate 
building be designed especially for vocational instruction, to be 
erected in the Borough of Brooklyn. At present there is no suit- 
able building in the City of New York, under the control of the 
Board of Education, designed to meet the special problems of 
industrial education. 

STATISTICS 

Statistics relating to the school will be found on Plates 4 and 5. 



97 



AVEQAGE: DAILY CEG15TEB 


A/1D ATTEMDA/NCE: BY CLASSES 


r&OtA JUYSE 21, 1915 TO JULY 31.1913 


T&ADE 


Register 


ATTE/SD&/SCE 


R,tQl2>T&R 


ATT&AtDAwNCE^ 


NUM&EE 

01° 
PUPILS 

O/S 
REGISTER 


PEBCErtT 

or- 

TOTAL 
SCHOOL 
REGISTER 


NUMBER 

OP- 
PUPILS 


PERCENT 

or- 

TOTAL 
SCHOOL 
ATTENWrtd 


PERCENT 

or- 

CLASS 
REGISTER 


MtOWUldZMJW 


CI 


nTTTTTTTTn 


16 


13.0 


15 


13.5 


94 


MACMI^t SttOP 


[Tnmnm 


fTTTTTTTm 


16 


13.0 


14 


12.6 


88 


WoodWock 


TTTTTTTm 


nTITTTH 


13 


10.6 


1 1 


9.9 


85 


Psiwi/n© 


rr» 


fTTTTTTT 


13 


10.6 


10 


9.0 


77 


&eMErtTDE51Grt 


Dm 


mm 


7 


5.6 


7 


6.3 


98 


Sheet MemLVfoaK 
LlccTRicWiBiAie 


IT 


i 


13 
45 


10.6 
36.6 


II 
43 


9.9 

38.8 


85 
96 


llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 


iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 






Avecaqe too. School 


123 




III 







TOTAL AVEEA6E PAILY EDSISTEC 
ArtP ATT&MDA/NCE BY MONTHS 


1915 


Register 


ATTE/iDAiNCt 


PERCENT 
ATTEttDAflCE 


juaie (8 days) 
July 


54 
148 


51 

134 


95 
90 


AVERAGE DAILY EEO/A 
JUttE 21 TO JULY 31 


123 


1 I J 


90 



Plate 4. 



REGISTRATION BY BOROUGHS 

SCHOOL YEAR 1913-1914 





DUMBER, OP- 


PEfcCE/rn or 


B0Q0U6M 


PUPILS 


TOTAL 




BErGISTErkeD 


fcEGIST&ATICYS 


A%AMH«TTA/S 


!6 


10.6% 


&J20/NX 


O 


O.O - 


fcftjCOKLNVS 


127 


63.5 - 


Queens 


9 


5.9 " 


R.ICM/ACVND 


O 


O.O • 


Total. 


152 


IOO % 




Plate 5. 



99 
EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN NECESSARY 

No finer opportunity exists for the Department of Education 
to demonstrate to the country at large the really great steps in ad- 
vance that have been made during the past year in the extension of 
vocational training in this city. It is to be regretted that our inhabi- 
tants are little acquainted with, or else fail to appreciate, the sub- 
stantial advancement for the furtherance of vocational education 
that has recently been undertaken. I believe an educational 
campaign is necessary not only to acquaint parents with the 
opportunities which the Board of Education offers their children, 
but also to acquaint the teachers and principals of elementary 
schools with the opportunities that await their pupils when they 
have satisfactorily completed the grammar school work. I con- 
sider this last recommendation of vital importance to the proper 
furtherance of this movement. 

Respectfully submitted, 

George J. Loewy, 
Principal, Brooklyn Vocational School 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



029 982 666 1 



r 



